


The Business Trip

by Rachaelizabeth



Category: Glee, Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Magnus is Mike, Mike Is Magnus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2018-12-17 22:32:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 39,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11860980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rachaelizabeth/pseuds/Rachaelizabeth
Summary: Jace and Alec go on a Parabatai work vacation together to Lima, Ohio, where they find out exactly what a 'Business trip' entails for one Magnus Bane.





	1. Chapter 1

Alec sighed, he and Jace were on their way to Ohio to check out a disturbance and it was a long flight. Now, there are a lot of things wrong with this sentence, Jace didn't have the attention span to sit on a plane. Alec gave a quick chuckle at this thought. They would usually never go farther than Edison for a job, but since the waters were currently calm at the New York institute, and the Ohio one was severely understaffed, Alec and Jace decided to take this one. After everything that's happened, they needed to get away from all the drama and spend some quality time together as brothers, parabatai. As for why they are taking a plane, Magnus was out of town on 'Business', though Alec didn't exactly know what that meant.

"What's so funny?" Jace asked, a board look on his face.

"The thought of us on a plane," Alec said, still bemused by the idea.

Jace let out a dry laugh, "Yeah, shadowhunters using mundane travel," he shuddered, "At least I get the window seat."

"Yeah, anything to keep you entertained and quiet," Alec muttered.

"Im sorry, what was that?" Jace asked, jokingly.

"You heard me," Alec responded, "Your like a child on caffeine."

Jace laughed, he had missed these moments with Alec. Ever since Clary, and Magnus too for that matter, had come into their lives, they hadn't hung out and laughed like they used to, just enjoying each others presence. Not that either of them were a bad thing, especially to the two who loved them, but Clary and Magnus definitely took away a lot of their brotherly bonding time. "Oh, and what about you Mr. 'I'm grumpy and sarcastic with everyone but my warlock boyfriend'."

Alec rolled his eyes, and Magnus was the eccentric one, "Don't be ridiculous, I'm not grumpy with you, usually."

"Yeah, only 5 days of the week," Jace smiled.

"Hey," Alec pointed at him, "That's 2 less than everyone else," He tried to keep a straight face but ended up smiling, which made Jace laugh, which in turn made Alec laugh until they were both in hysterics with no idea what was so funny.

After they calmed down, they just smiled at each other knowingly. The words didn't need to be said, they both already knew, that's what the Parabatai bond meant.

"Please return to your seats and buckle up as we are now going to start the decent, we should be arriving in Fort Wayne Indiana in 20 minutes," The captain said.

"You heard him, buckle up," Alec said somewhat sarcastically.

Jace rolled his eyes, "Day 4," He muttered.

After taking a bus from the airport to an old warehouse in Lima, Ohio where one of the many Ohio institutions was located, they were very exhausted. Mundane travel was awful, and though they didn't have to pay, or be checked by the handsy guards because of their stealth runes, it was still an experience they could have lived without.

"Well, never doing that again," Jace said on the way into the institute.

"Yeah, how are you planning on getting home?" Alec asked, being a wise-ass.

"Doesn't this institute have a warlock on-call?"

"Yes, we do," Said a woman, looking extremely unamused, "So why, prey tell, are two Lightwood's in my institute?"

"Uh, didn't Idris tell you we were coming?" Alec asked.

"Yes, but I don't see why we couldn't have handled it, its just a disturbance. There was no need to send two shadowhunters from New York," She was not happy.

"Well, we're here now so might as well put us to work," Jace said, he had a habit of making friends.

"Well, we got wind of a powerful downworlder at a local High School yesterday, but we haven't had the time to check it out yet. Not to mention that we have no idea who or what they are, or even how many of them there could be. I don't like the idea of going in blind, armed to the teeth and easy to spot with no idea what your up against, and no one here for backup if you get caught in a bad situation," She went on and on, after a while Jace kind of tuned her out. Alec, on the other hand, was listening intently like he did to authority members. Most of the time.

"So, what we shouldn't go and investigate?" Jace asked, fed up with her voice, "Did we come all the way down here for nothing?" He asked. He was going to continue until Alec shot him a look.

"On the contrary, I think that you two came at the perfect time. At the moment, our youthful shadowhunters are on assignment, and the rest of us are either too old to blend in, or too young to be in the field alone," She spoke, expecting them to understand what she was saying.

"Okay, and?" Jace asked, still not getting the point.

"No," Alec groaned when he realized what she wanted them to do.

"What?" Jace asked again.

"In this situation, it is the best way I can see to handle this matter, and if you don't like it you can go back to New York, but I run this institute and you need my permission to go on any missions within this area. So whats it going to be?" She gave them a 'you-better-not-complain-to-me' look.

"When does school start?" Alec sighed with disgust.

"Excuse me?" Jace said, hoping he had misheard him, but knowing that what he said was true.

It turns out mundanes get about as much sleep as shadowhunters on weekdays.

"7:00 AM is an ungodly hour!" Jace protested, "I mean I know we usually get up at that time, but to start school at thattime. That would mean waking up at 5 and actually putting effort into work."

"Whats wrong with you, you never complain this much about a mission, and we always wake up early," Alec stated with a hint of annoyance in his tone.

"Yeah but thats to train, it doesn't take much effort to kick your ass," Jace said, receiving a glare from Alec, "And, this is by far the worst mission we have ever been on."

Alec couldn't really argue with him there, going to a mundie school, there was no good way to spin that. "Yeah, and I thought fatty tuna sounded degrading, try shadow hunter high school student," At this, Jace gave a shudder.

"We are going to have to come up with a story about what happened here because no-one can know about this," Jace said.

"Agreed, we'll think of something on the way back home. Why did I let you talk me into this again?" Alec asked.

"Because Magnus was out of town and neither of us could stand Izzy for another second," Jace reminded him, Alec nodding at the mention of his overly hyper, nosey sister, "I swear, Im going to find the stupid mundane who introduced her to coffee and give him an all expense paid weekend at the luxurious, 5 star hotel Demort," Jace promised to no-one in particular.

Alec laughed. "Well, its already 11, and seeing as we have to be up early, I say we go to bed." They were sharing a room at the Lima Institute, the room operantly belonged to another set of parabatai, but they were out on assignment and wouldn't be back for at least another week.

"Dont remind me," Jace said as he fell on his bed and screamed into a pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

"Jace," Alec attempted to wake his brother up. It was 6 AM and Alec had just gotten out of the shower, expecting Jace to be woken up by the sound of running water.

After several frivolous attempts to wake Jace up, he decided to get some ice water.

"Ahugh," Jace made an indigent sound as he shot up and grabbed the seraph blade that was on the bedside table. Jace shook off the water and looked up at a snickering Alec, "By the angel, Alec!" He exclaimed when he saw the empty bucket in his parabatai's hand.

Alec shrugged, "You wouldn't get up," he said simply.

After many glares, exchanging of wrong clothes, and a flying dagger, they were both dressed in their usual black clothing and ready, well ready as they could be, for-

Well they didn't want to speak of it.

"Clary thinks we're insane," Jace broke the silence on their walk to school, "She said than she would never go back there if she had a choice."

"Yeah, well what choice do we have?" Alec asked making Jace go quiet because he knew he was right.

"Is that it?" Jace asked, pointing to a large building where many teenagers were congregating.

"Yeah, it doesn't look so bad," Alec said flatly.

"Yeah, maybe," Jace responded, though he sounded unsure.

As they crossed the street and got closer, they could hear singing.

"Is this normal for high school?" Jace asked.

"Uhhhh," Alec said as a singing guy slid down the railing right next to him, "I don't even think this normal for mundane romance movies," Jace gave him a questioning look, "Magnus." At that, Jace dropped the subject.

Alec went in the door first and stopped abruptly, narrowly missing getting hit in the head by a football. Jace sent a glare down the hallway where the ball had come from. "Remind me again why we can't use a glamor?"

"Because even a brand new warlock could spot a glamor from a mile away." Alec replied, they were walking to the front office. Clary had given them instruction on how to act, where to go, and what to do in a high school.

"Well what do you expect new kids 1 and 2, an invitation?! Ugh is this school a freak magnet, You both look like you were trapped in a children's coloring book in black and white." a mean looking woman yelled at them.

"Uhh," Alec was trying to think of what to say.

"What are, stupid too?"

"My names Jace, this is my brother Alec, and I guess we are new here," Jace said, quoting what Clary had told him.

"Like I care, I'm not going to bother remembering your names. Here are your schedules, now," She pulled out a bullhorn, "GET TO CLASS!"

The two shadowhunters were shocked at the way that a teacher was acting, Clary had said that they were understanding adults meant to help an guide you and that you could always count on them to help you, but unfazed. They swiftly walked out of her office.

"Still think that this was a good idea?" Jace asked Alec as he walked past him into the abyss of teenagers.

"I never said that," Alec called, following after him.

They waded through the sea of people, all of whom were very diverse. Not that they were strangers to diversity or mundanes, but seeing all of the different people being confident, open, and colorful was a bit overwhelming. At the institute, everybody pretty much looked alike: dark clothing, runes, scars, and somber faces. Here, there were people laughing, smiling, frowning, wearing all different colors, tall or short, brawny or lithe, boy or girl. The two shadowhunters stuck out like a sore thumb. Alec was wearing a black shirt, some black pants, black combat boots, and his black jacket, while Jace was only slightly less depressing sporting a dark blue shirt, black pants and combat boots.

After asking four different people for directions, they finally found their first class, Math, which was basically another word for hell. Neither of them understood a word their teacher said, or why there would be letters in place of numbers. They spent the whole time in a staring contest, much to the dismay of their teacher who was already in over his head with two boys who didn't know what long division was.

Both boys were nervous, but would never let the other know that, about not having the same next class. Alec had English, and Jace had Physics. Alec made it to his class and sat in the back listening to the teacher tell them all about Shakespeare and finding himself wondering whether Magnus knew him or not.

Jace was not so lucky, he had to ask 5 people for directions and ended up being 7 minutes late. "Mike, this is not up for discussion, go to the nurse!" He heard a woman yell as he entered the classroom. It was a big class with long lab tables that seated 2 people. It also apparently had two doors, and as he was coming in one, a boy was leaving the other.

"Ahh you must be our new student, come in, have a seat right here, you can be partners with Mike since he will need to be re-seated after that incident," She glared at a boy in a wheelchair.

* * *

The next class Jace had was Gym. He was relieved because he actually knew where this class was. He was also very delighted to see Alec enter the gym with an athletic looking guy. Jace waved trying to catch his brothers attention.

* * *

Alec walked into the gym with his... friend? He had asked the guy for directions and it turned out he had gym as well, so they walked together. In the 5 minute that it took to get to to the gym Alec had learned that this guy was the quarterback, though he didn't really know what that meant aside from that they always got the nerdy girl who turned into a princess at the end of every high school rom-com he had watched with Magnus, he was in glee club, he didn't know what that was either, and that he was in love with a girl named Rachel. Needless to say he way happy to see his blonde counterpart waving at him from across the room.

"Hey," he said when he got close enough. Jace nodded at him with an expectant look, "Oh, uh, this is-"

"Finn," Finn supplied, "Well I'm going to go get ready for football practice, but feel free to come up to me anytime if you need anything."


	3. Chapter 3

Jace and Alec were deep in conversation about what they had found out so far, or hadn't found, since they were as clueless as they were 4 hours ago.

"Ahh, you two must be new, I'm coach Beaste, this is quite the day to start school, we are doing a fitness test today. Now your welcome to opt out and run laps since you haven't been here, but its up to you wether you want to participate or not."

"Oh we defiantly want to participate," Jace said, answering for both of them.

"Yeah, what does that entail?" Alec asked.

Turns out in entailed running 4 quarter-mile laps, doing a hundred yard dash of hurdles, climbing a rope, and throwing a pointy stick into sand (Javelin). All of which Jace and Alec did with perfect grace and agility without so much as breaking a sweat. They also did it better and faster that anyone else had. Ever.

Once the rest of the class was done they formed a crowd around the two amazing boys. "Woah, that was awesome!" "How did you do that" "Will you be my boyfriend" "Are you single" "you should join the track team"

Jace was loving all of the attention, while Alec look extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed. Luckily the bell rang getting him out of that position.

They both had their next class together, Health.

"Ok class, today we are going to continue our discussion on sexual intercourse and the dangers that it holds. Now, it doesn't mater if your a boy or girl, or weather you like men, women, or shrubs, you can get an STD. And people, birth control pills are not all powerful, sometimes they don't work. So always remember to wear a condom." The teacher said bluntly, then proceeded to break into a demonstration of how to use a condom.

Alec and Jace ran out of that class when the bell rung looking extremely horrified.

"Im never going to be able to look at a cucumber the same way again," Alec said.

"We hunt demons for a living, but that was..." Jace didn't need to finish that sentence, for Alec knew exactly what he meant.

"Never speak of it?" Alec asked.

"Agreed. Now, wheres lunch?"

They ended up sitting with that Finn guy.

"So I heard you went all America-ninja-warrior in gym class today," He said looking part amazed, part jealous, and half contemplating why he was even alive.

"I guess," Alec said, he wasn't one for make a big deal out of things.

"Well yeah, the coach said that we did the best, like ever," Jace, however, loved the attention. Alec glared at him.

"So, what do you guys like to do?" The guy in the wheelchair, Artie, Jace had learned, asked.

"Um, well, we spar a lot, and I guess I like to read," Alec said, not loving all of the attention he had been getting the whole day for being the 'Dark-and-handsome-new-boy-with-the-muscles-and-tattoos' or at least that was what he had heard people say.

"Yeah, we spar almost everyday, then, after, we usually hang out if there aren't any jobs to do. We help our parents out with their... pest control business," Jace said, using the cover his clever girlfriend had suggested.

"So whats the deal with you two, are you, like, together?" a self-confident Latina in a cheerleading uniform asked.

Jace chuckled and Alec couldn't stop the small blush that was taking the place of his normal pale skin, "Nah, I don't think my girlfriend would like that very much, or his-," Jace was about to say or his boyfriend for that matter, but he caught himself seeing how Alec was still timid about announcing his relationship with said warlock to the whole wide world. No, Magnus was open enough for the both of them. What he did at his wedding was a one time thing, and was in a room full of people who knew and cared about him, but Jace knew his best friend would be reluctant about releasing the information for no reason, especially not to a bunch of strangers. "Alec's like my brother, his family took me in when I was ten," Jace said.

Alec, who had begun to sub-consiouly hold his breath when Jace started talking, let out a sigh. He would be sure to thank him later for not saying anything about his dating preferences. This was all still new for Alec, and though he loved Magnus, and didn't care who knew it, that didn't mean he had to tell perfect strangers what he hadn't even told his parabatai until a few months ago. He knew it didn't matter what people thought about him, especially not these mundanes, but he had always had an overwhelming desire to be accepted. So even though he had no shame in his love for the warlock, he just let his boyfriend be the one to flaunt their relationship.

"Hey, nice Tatts dudes," an athletic, bad-boy-type guy with a shaved down mohawk said, sitting down at the table.

Alec and Jace had both gotten comments like this throughout the day, at first they were confused, but one quick call to Clary cleared everything up.

"Uh, thanks," Jace said. He wasn't used to people complementing his runes. Everyone he had known had their own, or respected them because they knew what they were for. People here either looked at them distastefully, respectfully, or like they were stupid for permanently marking up their bodies.

"So can you sing?" An asian goth girl asked. The rest of the table looked at her, "What, we're all thinking it!" The whole table then proceeded to stare at Alec and Jace.

"Um, well I've never really had the time, and, I just," Alec laughed nervously, he was not comfortable with being thrust into the spotlight unless he had to be so singing would only be something he did when he was alone, if that. Alec looked to Jace to save him, "I don't think I'd be any good at it."

"Oh, come on Alec, don't be so modest. Isabelle and I have heard you sing in the shower, she said you sing like and angel," Jace said with a smug look on his face.

Alec glared daggers into Jace's face, wishing he could be throwing them, "Well we all know Isabelle is as tone deff," He spoke every word through gritted teeth, not releasing his glare, "as a duck," he gave a half-hearted laugh when Jace flinched at the thought of a duck. Alec continued, "Besides, if you want to shine a light on hidden talents, you should show them some dance moves."

Jace looked shocked, Alec promised to never bring that up. He had tried to plan a romantic night for Clary, and had gone to his parabatai for help. Big mistake. Alec had suggested that he take her to a candle lit dinner, then dancing, and then wrap it all up with a desert picnic on the roof of the institute staring at the stars. That had sounded great at the time, but Jace had made a fool out of himself on the dance floor. He had been reluctant to do anything more than a simple sway back and forth, but Clary had pushed him to let loose and show her some moves. That had ended with 2 iratzes and ice pack on his head. But it was all worth it for the smile that shone on his girlfriends face when she said how much fun the night had been.

"Heh, no, I can't dance," Jace said plainly.

"Thats ok, neither can he," The mohawk guy patted the Finn guy on his back, "We can have Mike whip you into shape in no time."

"Wait, what?" Jace asked confused.

"Well, your coming to Glee rehearsals. We have sectionals coming up and its all hands on deck," It was not a question.

"But, we're not staying. We are leaving in a week, two tops," Jace said, for angels sake he was a shadowhunter, surely he could say no to a couple of mundanes.


	4. Chapter 4

It turns out that sectionals were the next weekend and they only needed to be there a week and a half. Jace was determined to leave before then. He had suggested to Alec that they go looking for the disturbance. That plan had been ripped to shreds by the arms that pushed them down the hallway towards, what he could only assume, was the glee room.

Alec looked at Jace, and Jace at Alec. They were still on a job, looking at everything, thinking everything was a possible threat until proven otherwise. Neither of the liked the way this was going. Alec hated anything that could possibly bring him negative attention, like singing. And Jace, though he loved attention, did not know any of these people and was not about to make a fool out of himself in front of anyone but his family.

As they got closer and closer to the room, they heard the music.

Tonight, we are youngSo lets set the world on fireWe can burn brighter than the sun

Jace raised his eyebrows as they got pulled into the room and took in what they saw. A guy wearing a sweater vest with his hair drowned in gel was singing. He had a very nice voice, Jace noted. There was another boy dancing around, his body flowing effortlessly with the music. He was facing the small crowd of people who were seated in chairs along the back wall. Jace looked at Alec to silently ask him what they were doing there, but he could not get his parabatais eye. Alec attention was focused solely on the dancing boy, whose face was still unseeable, with furrowed was then that the boy turned, and Jace saw Alec's face go slack with realization, his mouth hanging open.

Jace saw Alec's reaction before he turned to see what he was gawking at, and a confused, surprised, amused sound came out of his mouth. It wasn't loud, but loud enough to catch their attention. Most of the student in the seats glanced quickly at them before turning their gazes back to the hair gel boy and the dancing guy. Except the guy was no longer dancing, he had fallen back in shock, knocking over a guitar and making the room go dead silent. Some of the kids looked at the no longer nameless boy, and some looked at what he was starring at. An asian girl and a boy wearing something that you would find in Magnus' closet ran over to help him up, but he didn't register them. He was staring at a face that was unreadable. Jace looked back and forth between his brother and his brothers boyfriend with a concerned, confused look. Alec's face was void of any describable emotion, he was completely blank with his mouth open.

"Mike! Are you ok?" The punk asian asked him.

"Woah, Mike, are you alright? What happened?" An older man came closer to 'Mike'. Alec would have presumed he was the teacher if Alec could think.

"Mike? Mike? Hello?" said the boy who came over to him.

"Alexander," He breathed out. It was so rushed that you could hardly make out what he said, that is unless you already knew what he was saying. If you had heard it a thousand times before from those lips. Those familiar lips.

No! Alec shook himself out of it. Right now he wanted to smack the stunned look off of his face. What the hell was Magnus, the High Warlock of Brooklyn, his boyfriend, doing in a glee club in a high school in Lima, Ohio. And why didn't he tell him. He had said he was going away for a few days on business, that should have been Alec's first clue. Magnus could go to Japan for the day for business and then come back to sleep in his own bed, the one he shared with Alec, then wake up and do it all over again.

The room was still silent, most of the people looking confused, the rest still bore a concerned expression. Mike usually wasn't like this. Magnus usually wasn't like this. He always knew what to say.

It was then that the teacher seemed to notice the two stragglers that some of his kids had brought with them, "Oh, Hi, uh, can I help you?" He asked.

"We brought them to watch us rehearse so they could decide weather they wanted to join or not, but after that little failure.." The Latina cheerleader said.

"Santana, thats enough. We all fumble sometimes, thats what this club is for, to help pick you back up." Mr. Schue said, then he turned to Alec and Jace, "So you two thinking about joining?"

Alec couldn't handle this, people were asking him questions and acting like everything was fine and normal when he had just caught his boyfriend with another secret. He didn't how hard it was for him to breath until he heard the loud gasps coming from his mouth. He had to get out of there, away from the eyes, away from the questions, and, right now, away from the still stunned warlock.


	5. Chapter 5

Jace was going to go after his parabatai, but he thought it best just to let him cool off. Instead he stayed in the still quiet room, eyes fixed on Magnus.

"What the hell?" He asked the warlock through gritted teeth.

"Woah, woah, woah. You can't come barging in here and get angry with Mike for... whatever just happened," Tina said.

"Yeah, who even are you?" Artie asked.

"Why don't you ask 'Mike'" he said the name with a douse of venom, "He's great with names," Jace was glaring at him.

Magnus finally snapped out of his shock and looked up at the glowering shadowhunter, "Jace, how- why- what are you doing here?" He settled on. All of the new directions looked at him with confusion and shock. How did Mike know these two weird guys.

"I could ask you the same question," Jace replied, "Me and Alec are here taking a brotherly bonding work trip to track- to help the understaffed... church here find... a lost cat," He spoke in fragments, trying not to spill their mission to a bunch of mundanes, "But now we found the cat and it turns out that its his cat, but he didn't even know his cat was missing. So he was very shocked to find it all the way in Lima, he almost didn't even recognize him," Jace spun the tale to slightly lessen the confusion the glee club felt.

"Oh Alec," He breathed again.


	6. Chapter 6

The bell had rung and free period was now over. Magnus was still stunned as he walked to Spanish. He thought over what had just happened and the events that led up to it. He was feeling nostalgic after the death of his dear, sweet pea-pod, and since he could not go to Peru to remember Ragnor, he settled for this little town called Lima. And now Alec was mad at him. Magnus had no idea why though, he had done nothing wrong. No, Alec should have been stunned by his dance moves, he should have kissed him and told him how much he missed the warlock. He should not have run away. Magnus kept saying this over and over again in his head, but he could not even convince himself that he was blameless.

Alec spent the rest of free period trying to pull himself together. He did not know he was crying until the clear, salty liquid blurred his vision and ran into his mouth. He was glad that Magnus had not followed him, or Jace for that matter. He loved his parabatai, but he couldn't explain why he was in pieces right now. Alec didn't know why he was mad about all of this. He wasn't even sure that he was mad. He just felt... small. Unimportant. Magnus had told him a million times that he loved him and that he was a rare occurrence for him. He had said how important Alec was to him, how much he meant to him. But then there were moments like this that Alec doubted that. Moments when he saw how trivial he was. He did not know anything about Magnus, nothing before the day they met. Not his friends, not his past loves, not even his name. He didn't know all of the important little moments in his life that made him who he was.

The bell rang, and Alec splashed some water on his face before he left for Spanish class. Jace had English, so he wouldn't have to go through a whole period of being asked whether he was ok or not.

Alec decided that he was not mad at Magnus, but that did not mean that he was prepared to come into his Spanish classroom and see his... him sitting there. And the only seat left was right next to him. Alec had a sudden urge to turn and run, but it was too late, the teacher had seen him. The same teacher that was in the glee room.

"Oh, uh, Alec right?" Mr. Schue asked, Alec nodded, not trusting his voice, "well, uh, take a seat," It was only after he sat down that Mr. Schue noticed that he was sitting next to Mike. "Uh, ok, so since some of you were unhappy with your last report card, I wanted to give you a chance for a good grade. I want you all, for the remainder of the class period, to turn to the person next to you and talk, in Spanish of course. I don't care what you talk about, but the only way you can fail is if you sit there in silence or speak in English. Alright, go,"

Unfortunately for Alec, the person next to him was the one person he did not want to talk to. And he was fluent in Spanish.

"Bien parece que su solo yo y tú," (Well, it seems that its only me and you) Magnus said after seeing that they were the only ones who hadn't started yet.

Alec sighed, if he was going to have to talk to him the whole period, it would be for the class, not for himself, "Hola, Como te llamas?" (Hello, whats your name?) What could he say, he was still a little bitter.

"Alexander, por favor, no seas así," (Alexander, please don't be like this) Magnus pleaded, eyes showing a rare vulnerability.

"Me llamo Alec,"(My name is Alec) He continued, saying his name with an edge.

Magnus' eyes grew cold, like the door to his feelings had slammed shut. Alec suddenly felt a wave of guilt, but sustained his poker face. "Me llamo..."(My name is...) Magnus faltered, then sighed. He was Magnus Bane, 400 year old, powerful, wise, gorgeous High warlock of Brooklyn, and yet he was totally at the mercy of his feelings for this one nephilim. "Me llamo Magnus, Alexan- Alec. Sabes quien soy,"(My name is Magnus, Alexan- Alec. You know who I am.)

"Puedo hacer? Realmente Magnus, porque no me dices nada! Bastante que lo sabes todo sobre mí, ni siquiera sé qué edad estás, o cuando es su cumpleaños! No me dices nada sobre tu pasado, y no soy aún lo suficientemente importante como para saber donde va en sus viajes de 'negocios'!" (Do I? Really Magnus, because you don't tell me anything! You pretty much know everything about me, I don't even know how old you are, or when your birthday is! You won't tell me anything about your past, and I'm not even important enough to know where you go on your 'business' trips!) The words just flowed out of Alec's mouth, not angrily, but emotionally.

"Me llamo Magnus Bane, yo alrededor tengo 400 años, y mi cumpleaños es el 157 día de la cosecha, una viejo indonesia fecha, tiempo ya olvidado, lo más cercano que sería el 12 de mayo. Ahora, qué pasa?" (I'm around 400 years old and my birthday is the hundred-fifty-seventh day of harvest, an old Indonesian date, long since forgotten, the closest thing to it would be the 12 of may. Now, what's wrong?) Magnus spoke after some consideration, each word was spoken with all of his heart.

"¿Cuál es incorrecto? ¡Realmente Magnus! Me dijiste que ibas en un viaje de negocios. Sabe usted que es la única razón que estoy aquí, porque Jace y yo necesitaba algún tiempo lejos de nuestra familia. Generalmente su donde voy cuando necesito un escape del drama en mi vida, heh, irónico no crees," (What's wrong?! Really Magnus! You told me you were going on a business trip. You know thats the only reason I'm here, because Jace and I needed some time away from our family. Usually your where I go when I need an escape from the drama in my life, huh, ironic don't you think.) He laughed humorlessly then sighed. "Mira, no estoy enojado con usted, yo, yo estoy solo, siento que hay así que mucho no sé sobre usted, como que al parecer se puede bailar y viendo este otro lado de usted solo trae todas las dudas que mantengo enterrado bajo piropos y tranquilizadoras palabras. Tu-," (look, I'm not mad at you, I... I'm just... I feel like... there's so much I don't know about you, like that you can apparently dance, and seeing this whole other side of you just brings back all of those doubts that I keep buried under compliments and reassuring words. You-) Alec had trouble getting the words that he wanted to say out, but once he started, he could go on rambling for hours if someone didn't stop him.

"¿Alec, sabes que eres un idiota laberíntica a veces? Una bella idiota." (Alec, you know your a rambling idiot sometimes? A beautiful idiot.) He added quickly with a smile. He made to go on, probably with some more reassuring words, but the bell rang and Alec was swept away by the swarm of students.

Mr. Schue had been walking around the room to make sure his students were following instructions and speaking in Spanish while he thought of this weeks topic for glee club. He walked passed group after group who were saying simple sentences, since this was Spanish 1, and still getting things wrong. Like saying anos instead of años, which has a WHOLE different meaning. He stopped when he overheard a quite complex, advanced conversation. Mike was usually one of his best students, sometimes it was like he was fluent and others like he was trying to act like he didn't know any Spanish, but he had seemed off today. Today in the glee room he was acting very... un-Mike, almost like he flipped a switch, all of a sudden he was a completely different person. Now, overhearing some of his conversation with the new boy, Alec, he was just becoming more confused. He always tried his best to help his students, and the new directions were like family to him. He didn't know exactly what was going on between Mike and the tattooed boy, but he got the fact that they knew each other outside of school, and he gathered that Alec was upset about something Mike did, and the leather-clad boy did not look like he was good at expressing his feelings. Mr. Schue suddenly knew exactly what they were going to do in glee club this week.

Jace had a wonderful time in his English class. It was very peaceful not knowing anyone, and being surrounded by beautiful girls who all want him. Ha ha, you thought he was becoming a hippie for a second didn't you? No, Jace loved writing, and women, but mostly the writing. He liked being able to put all of his frustration and feelings into a story and call it someone else's life. That's why when he has to recount events that happened, he usually tells them in 3rd person. So English class was a great concept for him, though he couldn't fully enjoy it due to him worrying about Alec. He could sort of understand why his parabatai was upset, but he didn't get some of the vibes coming from him. He could feel his hurt mixed with confusion, betrayal, anger, and a little bit of self-loathing. This was really effecting him, and Jace couldn't understand why it was to this degree. But, he put on a smile for the ladies and poured all of his worries into a story about a boy and his best friend.


	7. Chapter 7

Jace spotted Alec in the crowded mass of students, heading to their next class, history.

"Alec!" He called, successfully grabbing his attention. Once they were side by side walking into their classroom, Jace asked what they both knew was coming, "Are you ok?"

Alec sighed as they sat down next to each other in the back of the class, "I don't know," He said honestly.

Jace nodded, he knew not to push the subject too much now, but also not to treat it like it was nothing, "So how was Spanish?" He asked, trying to get Alec's mind off of Magnus.

"Magnus was there," He said. It was curt, as if telling Jace not to ask anything else that had to do with the warlock. Jace got the message and turned to face the board.

Alec was still thinking over the plea in the other mans voice. The underlying desperation that he wanted Alec to notice, but not talk about. It was a voice he only used when he really wanted to show Alec how much he meant to him. He just needed to think, just a little time to mull things over. He knew he was going to patch things up with Magnus, he just had to think of how, and what he was going to say. He couldn't lie and say he was ok with him withholding parts of his past, because he wasn't, but that didn't mean he wanted to loose the love of his life.

Right as he was thinking this, Magnus, err, Mike waked through the door. He immediately spotted Alec and his eyes went from sad to hopeful, the big brown orbs that he wore grew wide and a small smile adorned his face. Jace saw him and turned to his other half to see his reaction that would decide whether he would welcome Magnus, or try to kill him with his eyes. Alec locked eyes with Magnus and for one beautiful second he got lost in those eyes, though he preferred his real eyes, but promptly averted his gaze to the wall. He had just been thinking that he needed a little time before he saw Magnus, and now here he was. Alec still wasn't ready to say anything to him, no, last time he rushed in without planning what he was going to say, he messed everything up. He was just going to have to avoid him, just while he figured things out.

Jace proceeded to glare daggers at Magnus. Half-way through the class Mike Chang went up to the teacher to ask to go to the nurse, saying he had an accident in physics and it still hurt.

"Emotions," Mr. Schue said as he wrote it on the board. It was the last class of the day and all of the glee kids had music. This included Alec and a reluctant Jace who both sat off to the side to watch. Mr. Schue continued after seeing the skeptical, confused looks on his students faces, "Happy, sad, angry, hopeful, desperate, love. All of these are examples of emotion. Now, some people have a lot of feelings, and no where to put them. Some put their feelings into violence, and act out, and others use that emotion to create a work of art. I never want any of you to feel like you can't express yourself, or you have to keep your emotions bottled up inside you until you explode. This club is for you, to help you, so this week I want all of you to preform a song that expresses you feelings. Now you just got this assignment, but does anyone already have a song in mind they would like to come up here and sing?"

Puck got up, "I got one Mr. Schue, Finn?" he nodded towards the drums. Jace was so confused as to how the whole band knew what song to start playing without being told, but he listened none the less.

"I woke up in a stranger's bed  
With pins and needles in my head  
And the clock ticking off the wall  
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah

I don't even know myself  
I wish I could be someone else  
But I don't have a clue at all  
Oh, yeah

I'm sinking  
You're wading  
I'm thinking something's gotta give

Oh  
Wake me up  
Say enough is enough  
I'm dying to live  
Something's gotta give  
Oh  
Pull me out  
Of this sinking town  
I'm dying to live  
Something's gotta give

Maybe I'm just a waste  
Filling up the empty space  
I've been here way too long  
Oh, yeah, oh, yeah

I'm feeling like a nervous wreck  
Living on my last paycheck  
I'm a cliché in a song  
And everybody's singing along

I'm sinking  
You're wading  
I'm thinking something's gotta give

Oh  
Wake me up  
Say enough is enough  
I'm dying to live  
Something's gotta give  
Oh  
Pull me out  
Of this sinking town  
I'm dying to live  
Something's gotta give

Someone please come pull me out  
From the shadow of my doubt  
Wake me up  
I'm falling

Oh  
Wake me up  
Say enough is enough  
I'm dying to live  
Something's gotta give  
Oh  
Pull me out  
Of this sinking town  
I'm dying to live (dying to live)  
Something's gotta give"

He finished with a bang of the drums from Finn.

"Wow, Puck, that was really great. Alright, well I think that sets the tone for this week, I want to see some more of you go tomorrow.

Alec had planned on talking to Magnus after school, to tell him he was sorry for over reacting, but that his frustration still stands and he does want to know more about him. But plans don't always go the way you want them to, for Magnus was no where to be seen.

Alec and Jace were walking back to the institute when Jace started talking about how happy he was the mission was over and that they could go home.

"Wait, what? We can't go home yet!" Alec said.

"Uh, yeah we can. We found the powerful downworlder and determined he's not a threat," Jace chose his words very carefully, "case closed."

"Jace," He said, stopping, "We can't leave yet." Alec spoke, his words and eyes pleading with Jace to understand without him having to say the words.

"But-" Jace tried, he really did not want to have to go back to that place if he didn't have to.

"I have to fix things first," Alec sighed and started walking again, "I can't leave, not with things... the way we left them. I don't even know when, if he would be back to New York, so I have to... before we... I just... need a few more days," Alec stuttered out in a low voice. He only ever had trouble speaking if it was about his love life. Upon looking up at Jace he said, "You can go, though, I mean, that is, if you want to lea-"

Jace started laughing, cutting him off, "Of course I'm going to stay, I wouldn't leave you here with no back-up. And I get it Alec, love is extremely complicated. And your my parabatai, you never have to ask, you need me I'm there. Just don't take a month to sort out your problems, I really want to get out of here before that singing competition," Jace said, eyes wide, shaking his head.

It was Alec's turn to laugh now, "Whats the matter Jace? Scarred of a few singing teenagers?"

Jace glared at him, "Its not funny, their just like ducks. They want you to think their all harmless and cute, and then they bite your head off, blood thirsty little beasts," He said, saying the last part to himself.

Magnus was curled up on the fluffy blue couch in his little town house he had bought in Lima a while back. Chairman Meow, who he had reluctantly taken with him after going back to Brooklyn the night before for more of his favorite eyeliner only to discover the cat had torn up half his living room in protest of being left alone, was starring up at him, almost mockingly.

"What are you looking at?" Magnus asked.

The Chairman tilted his head forward almost as to say, "Really?"

"Not that its any of your business, but Alec and I had a fight, well at least I think it was a fight. I don't know what it was to tell you the truth, he was mad I didn't tell him about coming here. And that I wouldn't tell him anything about my past, which is completely not true by the way,"

The Chairman proceeded to let out a meow that sounded suspiciously like a scoff.

Magnus sighed, "I would tell him anything, If I knew how much it bothered him, I just don't like to talk about the past. It reminds me of all the times i'll never be able to have again. Theres so much beauty and so much pain there, I just don't like to think about it,"

Chairman Meow rolled his eyes, or as much as a cat can roll his eyes.

"The future is much more promising, though Alexander has some doubts about that too," He pondered for a moment before, "Your a genius! Thank you Chairman," he said while picking up the protesting cat, "I have to find the prefect song, something that lets him know how I feel, telling him I want him, but also leaving him room to tell me he wants me too. I won't go through the pain of a one sided relationship again," he said, thinking of his naive love for Camille and how she never felt more than a mere attraction towards him.

And he was off, scrolling through the deepest parts of the internet in search of the perfect song.

Alec and Jace had decided to take a bus to school the next morning. Not a school bus, they would never sink that low, a public bus. They sat in silence along with the other 7 people on there, listening to the song that was playing. Alec was thinking about Magnus, and what he needed to say in order to be in a completely honest and happy relationship with him. Because he could not keep bottling up his feelings, he needed to be transparent with him.

"Alec, lets go this is our stop!" Jace said, pulling him off of the bus.

"Sorry, I was just listening to the music," He said, only slightly blushing.

"Yeah, Okay," Jace said, obviously not believing him but dropping the subject, "Why are we here this early again?"

"For glee club," Alec said.

"So what? Now you want to sing? Since when are we a part of the glee club!?" Jace asked, he was starting to get annoyed by all of the singing.

"No, but Magnus is probably there. And besides, its not that bad, at least the people there can actually sing," Alec made a good point there, causing Jace to shut up.

They walked into the building and towards the music room, coming in to the end of a song.

Some days are better than other days,  
but these days, life is better with you.  
And when I think about the things that we've been through,  
I know just one thing is true, life is better with you.  
Woah, woah, life is better with you.  
Woah, woah, life is better with you.  
Woah, woah, life is better with you.

Every body clapped, including Jace and Alec as they took their seats off to the side, "Really good job Blaine," Mr. Schue said as Blane sat down next to Kurt who was smiling at him in adoration, "Now, we have time for one more, if someone wants to go, although there's some pressure following that."

There was a silence in the room before Mike Chang stood up, "There's something that I want to get off my chest," He said walking towards the center of the room, signaling the band to start playing the song he had given them an hour previous to his performance. He started singing, eyes on one particular, blushing shadowhunter.


	8. Chapter 8

Magnus got up to the center of the room and the music started playing. Even before the words came out of his mouth, his body was already conveying the words he wanted to say. Alec wished he knew about his dancing capabilities prior to this, because it made him that much more... exotic. Alec could think of many more words to describe him, his body moving with the music, speaking without actually saying anything. He started to blush at the thought, a blush that just grew once the warlock started to sing. To him.

I'm in love with an angel, heaven forbid  
Made me a believer with the touch of his skin

I'd go to hell and back with you  
Stay lost in what we found.  
Worlds apart we were the same  
Until we hit the ground

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm weak  
Maybe I'm blinded by what I see  
You wanted a soldier but it wasn't me  
'Cause I could never set you free

So fly on your own  
It's time I let you go  
Go, Go

I'm in love with an angel who's afraid of the light  
His halo is broken but there's fight in his eyes

Walls are built to keep us safe  
Until they're crashing down  
Worlds apart we were the same  
Until you hit the ground

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm weak  
Maybe I'm blinded by what I see  
You wanted a soldier but it wasn't me  
'Cause I could never set you free

So fly on your own  
It's time I let you go  
Go, Go

Walls are built to keep us safe  
Until they're crashing down  
Worlds apart we were the same  
Until you hit the ground

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe I'm weak  
Maybe I'm blinded by what I see  
You wanted a soldier but it wasn't me  
'Cause I could never set you free

So fly on your own  
It's time I let you go

So fly on your own  
It's time I let you go  
Go, Go, Go, Go

He was singing to him, and he let everyone know it. During the whole song, his body moved. He got up close to Alec a few times and the rest of the time he just stared at him from across the room while dancing.

Alec felt all of the eyes on him, but there was only one pair that mattered. "Im in love with an angel" He had sung. Did this mean that he still loved him? Alec shook his head, of course he still loved him, a little fight doesn't make feelings like that go away. Alec knew that Magnus probably felt the same pit in his stomach that he did ever since they started... arguing. "It's time I let you go" This was exactly what Alec didn't want to happen. Of all the scenarios he had worked out in his head, this was the one he wanted to avoid. Magnus feeling like he wasn't enough for Alec, because in reality he was everything to the shadowhunter. He had to tell him how much he meant to him, to tell him that he did not want to be let go of. Immediately Alec thought back to the song he heard on the bus that morning, the one that made him think of Magnus. He knew what he had to do, as much discomfort as it gave him to even think about it.

Alec was jerked from his thoughts by the bell signaling the start of the school day. All of the eyes in the room were still divvied between Magnus and him, none of them making any attempts at moving until Mr. Schue coughed and said, "Um, alright, good job Mike. Ill see you all later, don't be late to first period."

To say that the New Directions were shocked would be like saying that Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" is underplayed.

Mike Chang was not a vocal person when it came to his feelings. Nobody new much about him aside from the fact that he could dance and sort-of sing. He usually wore plaid shirts with a vest and some black skinny jeans. His hair was sometimes gelled up and sometimes left down. He wore a bit of eye-liner and always looked like he sparkled, though it must be a trick of the light, no way a straight A asian would wear glitter. Or at least thats what everybody thought 10 minutes ago. Nobody would have ever guessed that Mike Chang, the dancer from the glee club who is also on the football team who is also an honor roll student who is also asian, was gay. It didn't even cross Kurt's mind, and he was extremely good at telling when someone liked boys. They all thought that he would graduate, go to Princeton or Harvard or some other Ivy league school, become a doctor or a lawyer, and marry Tina.

Then again, nobody really thought about what Mike Chang was going to do in the future because not a lot of people thought about him at all. A lot of people forget that he's even there sometimes. And now, after two days and one song, he was suddenly on the forefront of everyones mind. He had just spilled all of his deepest feelings to this one boy. This one boy who, until yesterday, nobody had even heard of.

Mr. Schue was thinking over what had happened yesterday, with Alec coming into the glee room and shocking Mike, the conversation the two had had in Spanish class, and today with the song that he had just sung. He decided that he should have a talk after school with Mike, to make sure that everything was ok.

Jace sighed as he went to his Physics class, Alec had not said one un-math related word the whole class. It didn't occur to Jace who the teacher had assigned as his partner until he sat down. "Oh, no," He said under his breath.

"Ah yes," Said a voice behind him, "Look, it's not as though I love being partnered with the guy my boyfriend has had a crush on his whole life, yet here we are."

Jace snorted, "At least I'm attractive, you could have been partnered with him," He pointed to Jacob, the one with the curly afro and glasses that talked too much.

"At least he isn't arrogant," He said, sitting down.

"Well, what can I say, I'm just that comfortable with the amazing person that I am," Jace said, smirking. Magnus rolled his eyes while getting out a notebook from a bag that way too small to house all of the stuff he saw in it, "Magnus... Is... Is that bag bigger on the inside?" Jace asked with a confused, curious expression.

"How very perceptive," He responded flatly. His eyes then softened, "So, I'll be the first one to address the elephant in the room."

"Theres an elephant in here?" Jace mocked.

"Alexander, he... is he... alright?" Magnus asked tenderly. Whenever he talked to or about Alec his voice and eyes softened.

"I don't know, I'm getting mixed emotions from him. There's a lot of love and longing," He said, looking quite uncomfortable talking about his parabatai's feelings, even if it was with his boyfriend, "theres also a touch of anger and envy, but its mostly self-doubt, guilt, and... I can't really explain it, it's like this indescribable feeling of... insignificance," Jace tried to find the words, "I think he feels like he's just another one of your conquests."

Magnus looked sad and horrified, "He's not-"

Jace cut him off shaking his head, "But thats how he feels, it's like he knows in his head that he's important, but he still feels insignificant. Its like... he wants you to be the happy ending of his story, to dominate the pages of his life, but he knows that he'll always just be another chapter in your story. Something to look back on and smile, but not to... to end with."

Their conversation was cut short promptly by the teacher who was not too happy about them talking in her class. Jace gave him a look, but Magnus was already thinking of ways to show Alec what he had told him a hundred times. To make him believe it.

Alec had excused himself from gym for the day, saying he had food poisoning, so that he wouldn't have to deal with all of the people staring at him. Apparently, word travels fast, and the whispers had already started. Nobody commented on it to there faces yet, they wouldn't until they knew what was going on between the two. Whether there was another openly gay couple in the school that they could terrorize. Not everybody was thinking this, not even most of them. Most were just curious vultures who thought they were entitled to every little detail of other people's lives. And without Alec there, Jace had to brave all of the questions and comments, which he promptly ignored.

Their health teacher was absent that day, conveniently, so Jace and Alec went to the lecture hall for a free period of sorts. Jace had been expecting Alec to at least say something about what had happened, but he had not said a word about Magnus since the walked into the glee room. They sat there for a good 20 minutes, with Jace just staring at Alec, and Alec not seeming to notice, before Jace finally said something, "Uh, Alec?"

"Yeah?" Alec responded dazedly.

"Are you ok? You haven't said anything about what happened, and I'm starting to get worried. Whats going through your mind?" He asked, trying to be a kind, supportive person. It was a lot harder than others made it look. Jace usually would have said some snide remark about the cheesiness of the song, or laughed at how all of the room looked stunned, but he knew this was hard for Alec. And since Alec had always been there when Jace needed him, even when he said he didn't, even when Alec was going through his own stuff, he had always made time for Jace's problems. Jace was determined to be there for Alec now, to help him in whatever way he could, and even if he had some clue, he didn't know what was really going on inside of his mind. Was Alec mad at Magnus? Was he stunned about the song? Was he embarrassed about all of the eyes on him? Did he have to go to the bathroom? Jace didn't know.

"I... I don't know," Alec breathed out, eyes still staring unfocused at the wall.

"Ok, well I can't really help you unless I know whats wrong," Jace said.

"Nothing's wrong," Alec said instinctively. Years of denying, of concealing his feelings or any potential weakness had just made it his go to answer, it was much easier than actually talking about his problems. He sighed, "I don't know what I feel," he said honestly, "Im just sick of him keeping secrets from me."

"Well have you talked to him about it?" Jace asked. He was not the one to go to for relationship advice, everything he knew came from reality TV shows Clary made him watch.

"Yeah, but he still does it. I mean, I get that he closed himself off for a long time, and when it comes to his personal past, sharing doesn't come easy to him, but I can't live feeling like I barley know him," Alec's hands here not resting on his forehead so his head was leaning on them facing the desk.

"Are you going to try to fix things, err, I mean, do you think this could be the... end?" Jace was really trying.

"By the angel, no! I'm upset he didn't tell me about this place, and I feel a bit insignificant, sure, but none of that is worth loosing the love of my life over! At least, not before we talk about this," Alec had turned to face Jace at his absurd question, and after he finished talking his eyes went wide.

"What?" Jace asked.

"He... he's... I mean I knew I loved him but... I guess you don't really know how much you love someone until you realize you might loose them. I've never... I didn't," Alec was stumbling out sentence fragments, not really talking to Jace anymore. He was having an epiphany, Magnus was the love of his life. Alec had known that he loved Magnus, he had even told him so, but there was also a time when Alec would have said the same about Jace. What he felt for Magnus was way different than what he thought he felt for Jace. His love for the warlock was consuming, it was in every breath he took, in every beat of his heart. He loved Magnus more than he knew he even could love. He could accept the fact that he would die someday and Magnus would continue living, continue loving. He may not be the only one for Magnus, but he knew that Magnus was the only one for him. There would never be another, there couldn't be, because Alec was not going to let Magnus go. Not ever.

"So, whats up with you and Mike?" Asked Tina. And for the second time in two days, all eyes were on her. Mike was, once again, not present for lunch, "Ok, don't even tell me your all not wondering too!"

"Yeah, but its none of our business," Rachel said.

"Ha, thats rich coming from you," Quinn laughed.

"Yeah Berry, whats with the sudden change in attitude, did a pink, fluffy unicorn make its way up that big schnoz of yours and make everything all butterflies and rainbows up there?" Santana asked. Rachel gasped, offended and covered he nose with her hand.

"I like unicorns, though they like to take your keys," Brittany said.

"I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be fairies," Kurt said, looking at her.

"Guys! Stop, your scarring them," Finn said, ending all of the arguing that was going on. Jace and Alec had surprised looks on their faces. They were pretty sure any sane person would have ran away by now, but they had seen, and been a part of, their share of arguments growing up with Izzy.

"It's cool, our sister is way worse," Jace said, Alec still blushing from the first comment.

"Do you guys want to go to the glee room?" Artie asked, since everybody was done with their food.

Magnus walked into the glee room to find everybody laughing at something Jace was saying, "Herondales," He muttered. As soon as he had sat down, Mr. Schue walked into the room, breaking the laughter.

"Alright, who's up for some singing?" He asked. The room was silent for a minute, nobody wanting to go, although Rachel asked if she could go again which just made everyone groan.

"Um, I'll, uh, I... have a song," Magnus' heart fluttered at the sound of the shaking voice. He was blushing furiously and looking quite frazzled as he got up in front of the room. This surprised the two who new him because he was not an attention seeking person. The only time he really ever got up in front of people is when he was giving a speech or yelling orders to the Institute, and that was different because he was the on/off head of said Institute.

Alec took a shaky breath when the music started playing, he had just chosen the song that he heard on the bus that morning because it said most of what he wanted to say and he didn't really know any other songs. He, with the help of Kurt, looked up the lyrics and used his recall rune to help him remember every word. Though his hands were trembling and everybody was looking at him, including the only person who he wanted to be looking, he stared to sing. Surprisingly well, in Magnus' opinion.

Some things we don't talk about  
Rather do without  
And just hold the smile  
Falling in and out of love  
Ashamed and proud of  
Together all the while

You can never say never  
While we don't know when  
But time and time again  
Younger now than we were before

Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go

Picture, you're the queen of everything  
As far as the eye can see  
Under your command  
I will be your guardian  
When all is crumbling  
I steady your hand

You can never say never  
While we don't know when  
Time, time, time again  
Younger now than we were before

Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go

We're falling apart and coming together again and again  
We're growing apart but we pull it together, pull it together, together again

Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go  
Don't let me go

Alec finished, eyes on Magnus, both of them with tears threatening to fall. For this one moment, there was only them and Alec was blissfuly unaware of all the eyes on him. He took a step towards the warlock, "Magnus, There's some things we need to talk about, but I... I don't wanna lose you. Not ever," He confessed brokenly. Magnus smiled, allowing a single tear to slide down his cheek. Alec was suddenly hyper-aware of all of the eyes on him and he guessed it was too much for the young shadowhunter because Alec proceeded to turn and speed walk out of the door.

"Alexander!" Magnus called after him, moving to go after him before an arm stopped him, "Jace, get out of my way," He said in an assertive voice that shocked everybody who knew him as Mike Chang, the quiet, smart asian.

"You know how he is after any kind of public speeches, he always needs a minute to cool off after. Why do you think his orders are always so clear and explained, so he doesn't have to stick around to answer questions after. He always just runs off to a spot where no one can see him because you know the nephilim would never take a shadowhunter with anxiety seriously," Jace spoke while holding Magnus back, "Just give him a few,"

He reluctantly sat back down and listened to Santana sing Terrible Things which he assumed was about how her grandmother cut her out of her life.

When the bell rang, Magnus was glad because he had Spanish with Alec, and he knew the other boy was too much of a rule-follower to skip class, even if school was kind of a joke to him. fate was on his side today because just as he was thinking about seeing Alec, the boy in question put a hand on his shoulder.

They looked at each other, eyes conveying all of the words that would never be enough. Then, right in the middle of the crowded hallway outside their Spanish classroom, Alec put one hand on his neck and kissed him. It wasn't slow or rushed, but it was reassuring, being sure the other knew how he felt. Magnus was stunned for a moment, surprised that Alec would show affection like this in front of all these strangers, before pulling him closer by his belt loops and kissing him back. They stood like that for a minute, not hearing any of the vulgar comments or the snaps of peoples cameras, just lost in the silent confirmation.

They broke apart just as the bell rang, "You never stop surprising me, Alexander," Magnus breathed smiling fondly.

Alec smiled, a small blush on his cheeks, "We, uh, we should probably get to class."

Magnus just let out a chuckle and turned to walk into their Spanish classroom.


	9. Chapter 9

They were watching a movie called "The Book of Life" in Spanish class. Magnus and Alec were sitting next to each other, holding hands under the desk like pre-schoolers. Most of the class wasn't paying attention, drawing, talking, throwing things at one another. Magnus and Alec didn't need to talk because everything had already been said, well everything that they could say here. They still needed to have a conversation about Magnus' past, but that could wait until they got home. They just sat there and enjoyed the fact that they were no longer in an argument.

They were enjoying the moment until Magnus felt something hit the back of his head. He had a pretty good idea of what it was too. He had seen the torment that Kurt had gone through, and just because Karofsky wasn't there anymore didn't mean that they were off the hook. Magnus waited a moment to be sure that Alec didn't notice the crumpled paper ball that had been thrown before reaching down and picking it up. He sat with it still crumpled in his hand until Alec was completely engrossed in the movie, then opened it. The note simply said "GAY" in big, horribly written letters. Magnus almost laughed. They couldn't have come up with anything better than that? Though he knew if Alec saw this, it would have made him upset, so maybe Magnus just had thick skin. After all, he had been taunted more times about his perceived sexuality than he had been in relationships, which was a lot. Magnus almost laughed again at the situation, he was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, he had lived for over 400 years, seen everything, been apart of most major events they learn about in history, and yet this one mundane thinks he can bully him. It was really quite amusing.

Magnus quickly made the note disappear, burning it in a dumpster somewhere. He turned slightly so that his eyes met those of his "tormenter" and smiled, letting his glamor fall for a moment until the other boys face was horror-struck. Magnus turned back to the movie with a satisfactory smirk on his face, once again grasping hands with Alec.

Magnus and Alec got up when the bell rang and walked together out of the class and to there next one, history. The whole way there they got looks, some disgusted, some just curious, but all of them invasive. Alec's hand quickly detached itself from Magnus', much to his disappointment. Magnus was used to getting strange glances and he had learned to embrace it. Alec was still new to all of this and he already got enough glares from shadowhunters for being in a relationship with a downworlder. He put his head down and walked quickly to their history classroom, his angelic grace and agility showing as he carefully and effortlessly weaved his way through the horde of teenagers, Magnus trailing behind him.

"Hey," Jace said from his seat as Alec and Magnus walked into the room. Alec said nothing as he sat down behind Jace, Magnus to his left, "You ok buddy?" Jace asked tentatively, the amount of times he had said that in the past few days was ridiculous.

Alec just nodded giving him a small smile. Magnus took this as his cue, "We've gotten a lot of... looks," He told the blonde boy.

Jace suddenly looked angry, "What kind of looks," he said through gritted teeth, his hands balling up into fists. He would defend Alec against the world until the day he died, and even that wouldn't stop him from haunting anyone who would be stupid enough to insult his parabatai.

Alec swallowed, "It doesn't matter," He said looking at his parabatai. It was true, as much as Alec hated being starred at, it didn't matter what any of these mundies thought, or what the nephilim thought. The only opinions that mattered to him were from the people he cared about, and they all accepted him, for the most part.

"The hell it doesn't. Who? I want names," Jace said, more exasperated than truly enraged.

"Jace, I knew what I was subjecting myself to when I came out. I don't expect people to change for me, or for the world to be kind. I can ignore the glares and comments, be the bigger person. If it starts to be more than that, then i'll do something about it. But right now all I can do is hope that the world changes for future generations, that we can change it so that all of our children don't have to grow up with the prejudice and expectations that were thrust upon us," Alec said.

"Wow, you know you should talk like that more often, its really attractive," Magnus purred into his ear, pecking his temple.

Alec's cheeks burned bright red, Jace just pretended that he didn't see that and continued, "Just, tell me if anybody does anything so I can kick their ass."

"Have we been in school that long that you've forgotten that I'm a shadowhunter?" Alec asked sarcastically.

Jace rolled his eyes, a hint of a smile on his face, "No, but I know that you won't beat it into their system not to do anything else."

"Well I'm not going to kill them!" Alec said, trying to hold back a laugh.

Jace seemed to consider that for a moment until Alec shoved him, "Alright, alright, fine. No killing, but that doesn't mean I can't torture them a little, maybe summon a demon," Jace spoke with a smug smile on his face.

Alec laughed, "Good luck with that," He muttered.

"What? I could summon a demon!" Jace said defensively.

"Yeah, maybe if you payed attention in lessons," Alec scoffed.

""Maybe if you payed attention in lessons"" Jace mocked.

Magnus was smiling at the two, if it had not been for the surroundings, he could have easily mistaken them for Will and Jem. The Herondale in him was very visible, Magnus was stunned he didn't know sooner.

"Alright, so, today we will be talking about the Great Depression," their teacher, Mr. Lisgo, said, "Now, who can tell me when the Great Depression stared?" He asked.

Magnus' eyes grew dark and heavy with the topic, his body slumping, growing smaller in the chair, trying not to get noticed. Alec looked at him questioningly, "Hey, you ok?" he whispered.

Magnus gave a small, sad smile, "Yes, Alexander, I'm alright. I will be alright," Alec nodded giving him a supportive, reassuring smile.

"Mike? Would you like to tell us all when the Great Depression began? And while your at it, give us a little insight about what it is since you seem to be in a chatty mood," Mr. Lisgo called him out. He was one of those teachers who was fun, and comedic, but if you did something he didn't like he would call you out on it.

Normally this was a quality Magnus enjoyed, but right now he wanted nothing more than to turn him into an owl and leave. But, alas, the clave was already suspicious of downworlder activity at the high school and he had no desire to be locked up for 'reckless endangerment of mundanes' and 'exposure of the shadow world'.

"It started in October of 1929, the stock market crashed and banks had closed, taking peoples money with them. Millions lost their jobs and houses. In the three months following, over 100 suicides were recorded in New York, some call them 'The Jumpers of 1929' because people got drunk and jumped from windows of office buildings on Wall Street. It was a truly terrible time," Magnus spoke with a far-away look on his face, almost like he was...

"He was there" Alec breathed, it was so soft that he himself could barely hear it.

"Yes, America, along with other countries, fell into a time with little money and few jobs. Lots of people couldn't handle living in the world at that time so they jumped..." Their teacher droned on but Alec was no longer paying attention, he was thinking about Magnus.

"Now, I want you to write a short story about someone living in 1929. I want to know how they found out, what their reaction was, and how it effected them. You can work alone or in groups of two," He assigned and waved at them to get to work.

Jace looked a little put off when Alec scooted closer to Magnus to work with him, he was getting into this whole school thing way too much. Who would ever think that Jace Herondale would like school.

"So I was thinking we could do it from the perspective of a bartender. We could have multiple different people's stories that they're telling to the bartender, and-" Magnus started as soon as Alec had come over, focusing on the historical event and not the memories of a ghastly decade.

"Magnus," Alec said, cutting him off, "Talk to me," Alec's eyes were staring into his, taking in all of the sorrow hidden behind his smile.

"I am talking," he said, trying to keep up the facade.

"But your not saying anything," Alec countered, his voice soft and welcoming, "You were there, weren't you? In New York in the 20's?" he said lowly after a minute of silence.

Magnus sighed, dropping the fake smile and allowing his age to show through the grief on his face, "Yes," He said quietly. Alec moved closer, trying to get into a position in which he could comfort Magnus, but due to the award desks, ended up just holding his hand, "It's not something I like to look back on. Well, the twenties are, they were dazzling. You would have loved them, dancing, parties, jazz music, and the glamorous attire. But the depression," He paused, looking up at Alec, "I lost many friends during that time. It was a feeling I felt so rarely, to be so powerful, yet not be able to do anything. I almost lost a good friend of mine, Alfie,"

"What happened," Alec asked, now in a position where he could rub his boyfriend's back.

"I lit a cigarette," Magnus laughed, "with my fingers, of course. It wasn't much, but It was enough to convince him not to jump, to let me help him. And I did, I wiped his memories of the small fortune he he'd acquired previously, and of the women who broke his heart. I spent a lot of time and energy wiping his mind, and I got nothing in return. I always wondered why I did that, why it mattered to me, and I suppose it was because I didn't want to loose touch with humanity. I was alone then, and I had been for near 20 years. The depression effected everyone, mundanes and downworlders, even the nephilim to a degree. It reminded us that we are not so different from each other and that we are no less vulnerable than them," He finished, now looking into Alec's loving eyes.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that, and even more so that you had to do it alone," Alec spoke, words soft and tone comforting. He pulled Magnus' head down onto his shoulder, "I promise that as long as I'm alive, you'll never be alone again," He whispered into Magnus' ear, kissing his hair.


	10. Chapter 10

After 30 minutes of planning out their paper, also known as Magnus telling Alec all about the twenties, the bell rang. The freshmen and sophomores had classes ninth period, but most of the juniors and seniors had a free period at that time. Some would stay at school, doing extra studying, and others would just go home, the glee kids went to the glee room. Most of the time.

After class Magnus had said he was going to his locker and that he would meet Alec in the glee room in a bit. It didn't occur to Alec that Magnus didn't need to go to his locker, or even have a locker, due to the fact that he could just make his books appear. Jace, not so reluctantly, went with Alec to the glee room to 'hang'. He was really enjoying this whole school thing way too much.

Kurt was sitting in the glee room talking to Rachel about this weeks vogue cover when the two new kids walked in and sat down in front of them. He was fairly sure that the dark-haired one was gay to begin with, and the song he sang just confirmed his suspicions. He was, however, confused about his relationship with Mike. Kurt would not have thought Mike was gay, even if the boy did sparkle more than twilight vampires. But there was overwhelming evidence to support that the two were in a relationship of some sort. He had only noticed that the two boys, who were extremely handsome and muscular might he add, were talking when he noticed Rachel had stopped to listen. He gave her a look to say, "This is wrong" but couldn't help himself as he too listed to the whispered conversation.

"I honestly think that we're going to be ok, I'm still not very happy about the fact he lied to me about this place, but it has brought us closer. And it helped prove my point that he needs to stop keeping me in the dark about his life. We still have some things to work out, but I love him and I'm never going to stop," Alec confided in his parabatai, who looked overwhelmed at his answer to the simple question "Should I call Izzy?".

"Thats great, Alec, I guess that means I don't have to pummel him for hurting you," He laughed, then his voice turned serious, "I never want you to have to go through the pain of heartbreak,"

Alec pulled his brother into a quick, reassuring side hug. He remembered how distraught Jace was after being told that woman he loved was his sister, the pain that had turned him into a stone, seemingly without emotion. Though Alec knew how badly he was hurting inside, even if no one else saw it, even though Jace tried to hide it, he could feel it. It was an odd feeling to have an emptiness that isn't yours, to feel heartbreak your not experiencing. Jace had finally confided in him after Alec had found him on the rooftop crying, and, Alec supposed, thats why he felt like he had to talk to Jace about these things. So he didn't end up crying on the rooftop, and so Jace didn't worry like he had.

If he didn't know any better, Kurt would have thought that those two were a couple, but the blonde haired one was totally straight. They seemed closer than brothers, like boyfriends, but without all the good parts. All of a sudden Blaine came into the room holding a bouquet of flowers, actually two bouquets. He walked right up to Alec and said, "There's someone waiting for you in the auditorium," he smiled and handed him a bouquet. Kurt felt a small twinge of jealously, but ignored it because he knew Blaine loved him. Alec looked confused but he accepted the bouquet and stood up, casting confused glances at his best friend.

"What was that about?" Kurt asked.

Blaine sat next to him, "Mike planned something for him in the auditorium," He handed the other bouquet to him, "For you my prince," They both smiled at each other.

Alec cautiously walked into the seemingly empty auditorium, looking for any signs of the person he was supposed to be meeting. Suddenly, the lights went on and music started playing. Then Magnus walked out on stage, wearing something more Magnus. Alec walked closer to the stage, Magnus looking at him with an adoring smile.

Can't blame you for thinking  
That you never really knew me at all  
I tried to deny you  
But nothing ever made me feel so wrong

I thought I was protecting you  
From everything that I've been through  
But I know that we got lost along the way

Here I am with all my heart  
I hope you understand  
I know I let you down  
But I'm never gonna make  
That mistake again  
You brought me closer  
To who I really am  
Come take my hand  
I want the world to see  
What you mean to me  
What you mean to me

Just know that I'm sorry  
I never wanted to make you feel so small  
Our story is just beginning  
But let the truth break down these walls (oh yeah yeah)

And every time I think of you  
I think of how you pushed me through  
And show me how much better I could be

Here I am with all my heart  
I hope you understand  
I know I let you down  
But I'm never gonna make  
That mistake again  
You brought me closer  
To who I really am  
Come take my hand  
I want the world to see  
What you mean to me (yeah)

You make me feel like I'm myself  
Instead of being someone else  
I wanna live that every day  
You say what no one else was saying  
You know exactly how to get to me  
You know just what I need  
What I need yeah

Here I am with all my heart  
I hope you understand  
I know I let you down  
But I'm never gonna make that mistake again  
You brought me closer  
To who I really am  
So come take my hand  
I want the world to see  
What you mean to me  
What you mean to me

Alec had somehow wandered up to the stage and was standing in front of his boyfriend. Magnus began to speak, his voice raw from the tears that Alec hadn't noticed were leaking down his face, "Alexander, you will never be insignificant in my life, never just another chapter in my story. You have woken me up and breathed new life into me. I could feel myself growing cold with time, something I told myself I would never let happen, until I met you. You changed everything. You changed me, for the better. Alexander, I can't stay with you for the rest of my life, I can't promise to die with you. All I can offer is to love you for as long as you'll let me, because make no mistake, Alexander, I do love you," He said, putting a hand on Alec's face, waiting for a response.

"Magnus, I love you more than I can even put into words," Alec whispered against his lips that were now just centimeters away, "I won't ever leave you, you helped me accept myself. You've done more for me than you'll ever realize. I... Your the love of my life," Magnus' eyes widened, glamor slipping, "Your it for me, I never want anyone else," And their lips met, neither was sure which one of them started the kiss, but it ceased to matter when their bodies molded together. It was messy and uncontrolled, just needing to be closer to the other, just wanting to never leave this position. Alec's right hand was on Magnus' cheek, the other firmly on his waist. Magnus' right hand was on Alec's shoulder and his left was wrapped around Alec's neck, playing with his hair. The kiss was just a kiss, with no intentions of going elsewhere. It was exactly what they both needed ever since Magnus had left Brooklyn on his 'business' trip.

They stood like that for what felt like ages but was probably only 5 minutes before they were interrupted by a few wolf-whistles and a very recognizable laugh. Alec broke the kiss, his face flushed partly from the make out session, but mostly from embarrassment. Not that he had anything to be embarrassed for, its not like he was doing anything wrong, he was just making out with his boyfriend. Alec braced himself before turning to see who had interrupted them.

"Alright, now that we've got our theme for sectionals, I have a few songs that I want to try out. So everybody to the auditorium," Mr. Schue said, popping his head in the room before leaving for the auditorium, glee club in tow. There was no time for Blaine to tell him that someone was using the auditorium and that it may cause some permanent mental damage for them to go in there.

"Aren't Alec and Magnu- Uh, Mike in there?" Jace asked, comping up seemingly out of nowhere behind Kurt and Blaine.

Blaine wasn't even going to comment on the fact that he almost called Mike something else, "Yep," Kurt said.

Jace just smirked amusedly. Blaine looked confused, "Your not even going to try and save him from embarrassment?"

Jace laughed, "You think this would be embarrassing, you should have seen his wedding," Blaine and Kurt looked even more confused.

Jace proceeded to tell them all about the wedding on the way to the auditorium. It was quiet when they walked in, seemingly empty except for the spotlights and the couple passionately making out on stage. Jace busted out laughing, as he did most times he caught them like this. Clary and Simon would be flustered and apologies while walking out, Izzy would make some sly remark about using protection or locking the door so that their mother didn't accidentally walk in, and Jace would laugh his ass off. That's just the way things worked. Some of the other glee clubbers gave good-natured wolf whistles while the rest looked shocked or confused.

Jace looked at his blushing brother, his expression conveying his deepest hopes that the floor would swallow him, and the annoyed warlock, who seemed to be back in his usual choice of clothing.

"Wow, uh, sorry guys," Mr. Schue said, "We came in here to practice so if you want to stay and help out..." He smiled, attempting to ease the tension.

"Well of course," Magnus said, pulling Alec out of the spot light and into the back of the crowd where he knew the shadowhunter felt more comfortable, "We'll continue later," He whispered into his ear, licking the lobe and giving him a wink. Alec surprisingly didn't visibly react to his words. His eyes didn't widen and his blush didn't deepen, he just kept his calm face on and put his hand on Magnus' lower back.

"Yes, we will," He said lowly, his hand traveling further down and squeezing, making Magnus' eyes go wide. He would just never stop surprising him.


	11. Chapter 11

"Alright, so as you all know, the theme this year is time. I have a few songs that I think fit that category well. This one is a little cheesy, but it does convey a pretty clear story, so Blaine, Rory, Sam, and Artie worked with me a little beforehand on this, join in if you know it!" he pointed to the band that seemed to appear out of nowhere and they started playing a song.

People say we shouldn't be together  
We're too young to know about forever  
But I say they don't know what they're talk-talk-talkin' about (talk-talk-talkin' about)

'Cause this love is only getting stronger  
So I don't wanna wait any longer  
I just wanna tell the world that you're mine, girl  
Oh

Half of the kids joined In for the chorus.

They don't know about the things we do  
They don't know about the "I love yous"  
But I bet you if they only knew (they don't know)  
They would just be jealous of us,  
They don't know about the up all night  
They don't know I've waited all my life  
Just to find a love that feels this right  
Baby, they don't know about, they don't know about us

One touch and I was a believer  
Every kiss, it gets a little sweeter  
It's getting better  
Keeps getting better all the time, girl

Magnus pulled Alec into the swarm of dancing, singing students, much to his dismay.

They don't know about the things we do  
They don't know about the "I love yous"  
But I bet you if they only knew (they don't know)  
They would just be jealous of us,  
They don't know about the up all night  
They don't know I've waited all my life  
Just to find a love that feels this right  
Baby, they don't know about, they don't know about us

Magnus took the spotlight, singing to Alec.

They don't know how special you are  
They don't know what you've done to my heart  
They can say anything they want  
'Cause they don't know about us

Everyone joined back in, all of them knowing the words and syncing their dance moves even though they didn't know what song they were going to be preforming. Jace really needed to figure out how they did it.

They don't know what we do best  
It's between me and you, our little secret  
But I wanna tell 'em  
I wanna tell the world that you're mine, girl

They don't know about the things we do  
They don't know about the "I love yous" (I love you)  
But I bet you if they only knew (if they only knew)  
They would just be jealous of us (they would just be jealous of us),  
They don't know about the up all night  
They don't know I've waited all my life  
Just to find a love that feels this right (feels so right)  
Baby, they don't know about, they don't know about us

They don't know about the things we do  
They don't know about the "I love yous"  
But I bet you if they only knew  
They would just be jealous of us,  
They don't know about the up all night  
They don't know I've waited all my life  
Just to find a love that feels this right  
Baby, they don't know about, they don't know about us

They don't know about us  
They don't know about us

Blaine finished the last line of the song.

Alec was listening to the lyrics and he found himself wishing he knew about this song a few months earlier, before he proposed to Lydia. It reminded him of Magnus' and his relationship, if you could even call it that, before anyone knew he was gay. Alec wished he had had the strength to sing this song to his parents a few months ago, but he would probably never have enough self confidence and shamelessness to do anything like that. Getting up in front of complete strangers and singing was scary enough and the only thing that got him through it was starring into Magnus' eyes, and the fact he would never have to see these people again. He sometimes envied his siblings on how confident they were. Jace could get into an awkward situation and come out on top, and Izzy practically bent boys to her will. Alec was just the shy, quiet, and now openly gay boy that everyone forgot about. Jace would shamelessly make a complete fool of himself and then convince others that they were the foolish ones. Alec knew he would never be able to do that and he had made his peace with it, but sometimes it would be nice to have a little bit more confidence in himself.

"Really nice job everybody!" Mr. Schue laughed, "So what do you guys think of that song for sectionals?" He asked.

"I just, I don't think it has enough depth for sectionals Mr. Schue," Rachel said.

"Yeah, and us doing One Direction? People will either love us or hate us, theres no in-between," Kurt added.

"Ok, I have a few other songs that might work," Mr. Schue said right before the bell rang, "Alright, well, uh, enjoy the rest of your day and brainstorm some songs for sectionals," He called after the people leaving.

Magnus had grabbed Alec's hand and was walking with him towards the door of the auditorium behind Jace. "Where are you two staying?" He asked, expecting the answer from Alec.

"At the Lima institute, can we hurry up, I want to do my homework," Jace said over his shoulder.

Magnus shot a concerned look towards Alec, Alec just rolled his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh, "He's getting into this school thing way too much," He whispered to Magnus.

Magnus' eyebrows raised, "Ahhh, and your not?"

It was Alec's turn to raise his eyebrows, "Really? Being around hordes of judgey people? I do that enough, besides, they don't even treat us like real people here, just...kids. It's a little demeaning going from being the Head of the New York Institute and always having people look to me for orders or direction, to being a...a high school student," he said, not having to explain how he was treated as a high school student because Magnus already knew.

"Believe I understand that. So, you don't mind if you skip the whole doing homework thing? Because I was thinking-" Magnus asked, but before he could finish his question they heard heavy footsteps coming from behind them at a fast pace. Alec tensed, shadowhunter training kicking in, before they heard the voice.

"Mike, uh, I was wondering if you had some time after school today? I wanted to talk to you," Mr. Schue said.

Magnus looked hesitant, though most people wouldn't be able to decipher the new emotion from his usual face, just people who knew him really well. He turned to Alec, who was watching him, and gave him a questioning look, like he was asking for permission. Alec just smiled, nodded understandingly, and turned to walk with Jace back to the Institute, "See you tomorrow, I guess?"

"Alexander, wait, I was going to ask if you wanted to come over to my place instead of going back to the Institute with," He looked over to Jace, who was smiling smugly to himself while shimmying, "that." He smiled sympathetically at Alec, "Just, uhh, just come with me, you can wait outside or sit with me. Unless, of course you'd rather spend the night with him," He pointed at the blond haired boy who was now jumping up and down reaching for the ceiling.

"By the Angel," Alec muttered to himself, "Jace!" He put his arms out in the universal gesture of 'what the hell are you doing?' with an exasperated mouthing of what? Jace stopped immediately. Alec turned back to his glittery boyfriend, "Nope, I'll stay with you," They both smiled, getting lost in each others eyes until they heard a cough.

Alec blushed when he looked over to see Mr. Schue, who was still standing there and who had seen the whole exchange. "So, can we talk?" He asked Magnus.

"Sure," He said, grabbing Alec's hand and leading the other boy behind him as he followed Mr. Schue to his office.

"Uhh, do you want me to come in with you, or, like, I could just-" Alec stammered, blushing.

"It's up to you darling, whichever you prefer," Magnus smiled at him.

"I'll just wait outside," He said, still blushing, and leaned against the wall awkwardly.

"Alright, Alexander, yell if you need anything," Magnus smiled again before turning to walk into Mr. Schue's office, reassuming his Mike persona.


	12. Chapter 12

"So, Mr. Schue, um, whats this about?" Magnus asked, in Mike mode. He had learned through the years how to become someone else pretty well, you just had to let go of everything that did not have to do with the character you were playing. You had to not think about anything, or anyone, from your other lives, just let go and be who you are (at the moment). Magnus found this very had to do with his Shadowhunter boyfriend standing right outside his Glee teachers office, in his high school. In fact, that whole sentence just gave him a headache.

"Well, Mike, I just wanted to make sure everything was... okay. You've been a bit... off the past few days and I just want you to know that you can always talk to me," Mr. Schue chose his words very carefully. He looked to the wall with the door, to where Magnus knew Alec was standing, and added, "about anything."

"I dont know what to say Mr. Schue, theres nothing wrong," Magnus said, using just enough nerves in his voice to pass himself off as a teenager who isn't used to being in trouble.

Will Schuester was very confused. He had had Mike as his student for 3 years now, two of them were spent with him in glee club, and he had thought he had known the boy. He had thought wrong. Ever since those two boys with tattoos had walked into the glee club he had seen a whole different side of Mike. Now, don't get him wrong, he had no problems what-so-ever with Mike kissing the dark haired one, or if he was gay. God knows he had fought for Kurt just for him to be able to bear comping to school. That was only one thing on a long list of concerning things. Mike had started wearing makeup and more exotic clothing, had been talking with an air of superiority, like he knew something that know body else did, or a lot of somethings, and he had gotten a sudden burst of confidence, strutting around with the new kid on his arm. Again, none of this was a problem for Will, his problem was that it was so sudden and so... un-Mike. It was like a switch had been flipped and someone totally new was in his body, he still looked like Mike (under all that makeup and hairspray) but he was someone new. Will just wanted to make sure that he was not being pressured, or that he had not been taking drugs, and that he had not cracked under the pressure of being a high school student.

"Well, Mike, uh, I've just noticed that you've been... different lately, not that its a bad thing... at all. It's just that I've noticed some pretty big, pretty sudden changes and it all started when those two new kids showed up. Your dressing differently, talking differently, and I've seen you hanging out with that dark-haired boy, Alec?" Mr. Schue released all of his concerns on the poor teenager.

"Well, Mr. Schue, I guess I was just tired of sitting in the back and just getting dance parts, sometimes. Half of the glee club can't even remember my name the just refer to me as 'the other asian' or 'boy asian', I'm not even fully asian! I just want to show the world what I have to offer, and, well," He looked down at himself, dressed in black skinny jeans, grey suede boots, a red silk shirt that showed off some of his chest, a grey vest, and numerous amounts of jewelry, not to mention his eye-liner and hair gel, and said, "this is more me." He finished, dramatically. He stole a few lines from different teen dramas he had watched over the years, to make it believable.

"Wow, Mike, I had no idea. If you felt so left out of things you should have come and talked to me," Mr. Schue said, shocked.

"I did!" He replied, a little outraged that he didn't remember all of his attempts to try and audition for a singing part.

"Wait, you were serious about those singing parts? I thought it was a joke! You've expressed your disinterest in singing many times and I thought that you were adamant about it," Mr. Schue said.

"Well, I've been working on my voice as I hoped you could tell by my performance the other day," Magnus said, he was proud of that song.

That brought Will's mind right back to the reason he had wanted to talk to Mike in the first place. "Right, you did do a good job on that song. I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be singing to Alec," he ended on an open not, as to give Mike a chance to but in.

"Yes, he, uh, well he had no idea that I was here, and he was a little... shocked," Magnus looked down at the rings on his hands. He could easily talk about almost anything with almost anyone, but when it came to his Alexander...

"So you know him? Before he started coming here, that is," Will tried to ease his way into this, he wasn't even sure what he was fishing for, what or why he wanted to know. He was making this up as he went along.

"Yes, I know him," Magnus smirked as he remembered the night Alec came rushing into the apartment. He was flustered and unsure as he told Magnus that he wanted to take next step, catching the warlock off-guard. Magnus had expressed his concern that he didn't want to take things too fast and have Alec regret anything, he wanted the shadowhunter to take his time, enjoying everything that a relationship had to offer. In all honesty, Magnus had been dreaming about the blue-eyed boy in his bed since the day that he met him, but he wanted to be sure that Alec felt comfortable in who he was and in the way Magnus felt about him before doing anything... intimate. He had built up his self control over the years and could keep a cool head in most any situation, but Alec just had this effect on him. Alec had said that he was sure and he wanted all of Magnus, nothing held back, and the glittery man was too shocked to speak as Alec pushed him into their bedroom. Magnus let Alec dictate whatever they did, since it was all new to him. He wanted the young nephilim to explore this whole new side of himself. It had been a wonderful night and Magnus had not let Alec forget how adorably awkward and unsure he had been, and despite his protest and blush every time he brought it up, he knew Alec was quite happy with how the night had turned out, "quite well," he added, still smirking in a way that Mike Chang would not. 'Ah, well,' he thought to himself, 'This alias was getting old anyways,'.

"I see, so are you two..." he prayed that Mike would finish his sentence, or else it would be an extremely awkward guessing game.

"Together? Dating? In love?" Magnus asked, his Mike facade slipping. He couldn't help it, whenever he talked about Alec something just took him over. Mr. Schue just nodded, "Well, the answer is yes."

"And how long-," Mr Schue didn't have to wait for an answer that time, it seemed that Mike was more than keen to talk about the other boy.

"A few months now we've been together. You see, thats where I am whenever I'm not here, in New York. I guess I really only have myself to blame for people forgetting me, Im not here all that often," Magnus told him, more than he probably should have.

"You fly back and forth to New York all the time? Oh, Mike I had no idea! Is it your parents?" Will asked, trying to be a supportive teacher. If his parents were splitting up and he was being dragged back and forth from New York, that might explain some of his strange behavior.

Magnus laughed a bit, trying not to think of his parents, "No, their... not around," He said, not wanting to blatantly lie because he did like Mr. Schue, "Haven't been for quite some time, I take care of myself."

"Wait, Mike, are you living by yourself?" Mr. Schue asked, sitting straighter in his chair, alarmed but still gentle.

"No," Magnus hesitated, it wasn't a direct lie, he lived with Chairman Meow, and Alec... sometimes, "Don't worry about me Mr. Schue, I'm alright."

"Mike, I know it might seem alright right now, but being on your own isn't a good way to live, your still a teenager. Where do you even get money for food, electricity, water? Im really worried about you Mike," Will asked, concerned.

"Trust me I'm more mature than I look," Magnus let out a dry laugh, he was probably older than everyone in the glee club put together, "And I have all of those things, I actually have quite a bit of money saved up. Mr. Schue, I'm honestly fine-" Magnus was trying desperately to assure Mr. Schue that he was alright and that he shouldn't worry about the 400 year old immortal warlock sitting in front of him. But of course he couldn't tell him that, so he had to settle for the limited truth.

"Magnu-uh, Mike," Alec said questioningly, busting into the room. Magnus was glad for the change in subject, it was getting proceedingly difficult to convince his teacher that he was alright and did not need to be reported to social services. Will on the other hand wanted more information out of the boy who, before yesterday was just a quiet kid that was doing well in school and whom could dance well. Now he was a complete mystery, "Sorry to interrupt, I but while you were gone I was watching the Chairman, I know you didn't ask me to but I just thought, since I didn't know when you'd be back, I just kinda stayed there for a few days so I could feed him, and so that you didn't come home to an empty house because I know that you hate that feeling-" Alec rambled on. He only talked like this when he was nervous or very flustered. Most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference between this and his normal way of talking, but Magnus knew the difference, it was a period. When he was like this you could not find any spots to put periods, his words were just crammed together in one big, long, run-on sentence. He usually needed someone to stop him before he passed out from lack of oxygen.

"Alexander, dear, is there a point to this lovely story?" He asked encouragingly.

"Oh, sorry, yeah," He blushed, "Point is that when Maryse told me to take a few days off and sent Jace and I up here while she took care of the institute, I told Izzy to watch the Chairman. She was supposed to go there once a day to feed him and make sure had enough water, but she just called me and said that she forgot to go yesterday so she went there today and he was gone. I- I don't know how he got out, but the whole place was a complete mess. I'm so sorry Magnus, I- I really don't know how he-" Alec sputtered out, taking small, subconscious steps to Magnus throughout his explanation, completely forgetting their company.

"Woah, shhhh, its fine. Chairman Meow is with me, he's at my place here. I'm sorry, I would have left a note, but I had no idea that you had been staying there taking care of him. I came back a few nights ago to get my eyeliner and saw the mess he made so I took him with me," Magnus hurriedly explained before Alec hyperventilated. Relief visibly washed over Alec, and Magnus realized something, his eyebrows rising, "Have you been sleeping in my bed?" He asked, also completely forgetting about the adult standing 3 ft away.

"No- I- I- Wha- Why would yo- I- Pfft- C-course no- I'm- I mean," With less than ten words Magnus had reduced this brave, strong, deadly, fierce shadowhunter to a stuttering, blushing, flustered mess. A Cheshire-Cat-like grin creeped on to his face and he took a step towards the other boy.

"Oh, if only poor Benedict Lightwood could see this, a nephilim, a Lightwood, completely at the mercy of a downworlder," Magnus chuckled at the thought.

"Who?" Alec asked, desperate to change the subject.

"A particularly horrible ancestor of yours. Don't worry, he contracted demon pox and turned into a giant worm," Magnus patted his shoulder.

"Demon pox? I thought that was a myth?" Alec said, a look of shock on his face.

Magnus burst out laughing and started humming a tune, he smiled fondly and said, "Remind me to teach Jace that song, it seems only fitting that a Herondale knows it."

Will Schuester was completely lost. He didn't even try to follow their conversation anymore. It was like Mike was a completely different person around this Alec kid. He radiated love and self-confidence, two qualities usually not found together in one high school student, at least not genuinely. A lot of kids would act like they were confident in themselves, but they had not had enough time to really explore all of themselves and accept everything, the good and the bad. Will was still not completely confident in himself and he had had years to grow and accept. Then there was that talk about his ancestor. Why would Mike say that? He obviously couldn't have been around to meet one of Alec's ancestors, especially not one that Alec didn't even know about. And who was the Chairman? Chairman meow, did Mike call them? It must be a pet, probably a cat based on the name. But why would Alec feel like he had to take care of it? Wouldn't Mike's parents, or at least the people he was living with, take care of it? Unless he wasn't living with anyone, but he didn't look like he was lying. Maybe...? Will's thoughts were all scattered and trying to piece together the new mystery that is Mike Chang. If thats even his real name? What did these two kids call him? Max? Mags?Magnet? Maximus? Magnus? Yes! That was it Magnus? But why? Will was getting a headache from all of the thinking he was doing. He looked back to the two boys still standing in front of his desk, and then starred at Mike. He looked for any signs of, well, anything, but he found none. For the first time, Will really looked at him, and he saw years of pain, heartbreak, love, kindness, anger... baggage in his eyes. More than any eyes he had ever seen, Mike, no, Magnus looked very old and wise, but only in his eyes.

"Mr. Schue? Mr. Schue? Hello?" Magnus was calling to his teacher who was staring at him vacantly. He shot a worried look at Alec, who was giving him the same look, before snapping his fingers to try and get his attention. Mr. Schue had heard him the first time and was just trying to clear his thoughts and compose himself enough to have a normal conversation. However, all of that composure flew out the metaphorical window when blue sparks came from Mike's fingers when he snapped. Mr. Schue blinked, he must have imagined it.

He shook his head and responded, "Yes, Mike?"

"Uhh, can I go now?" He asked, somewhere in between Mike and Magnus.

"Yes, but I want to talk to both of you tomorrow. I have some questions and if you don't want me to contact the school board wth my concerns then you better come prepared to put those concerns to rest, OK?" he said truthfully.

"Alright Mr. Schue." Magnus said, dragging a stunned and pale Alec from the room.

Once they were in the hallway Magnus asked, "Are you alright darling?"

A bit of color came back to his face at the word 'darling', he secretly loved when Magnus called him that, "Yeah, I've just never been called into the principles office before," he said, using as much knowledge of school that he had. Unfortunately all of that knowledge comes from cheesy high school movies Magnus made him watch, so it was not very accurate.

Magnus laughed, "It will be fine, he can't do anything to us, really. Besides, if things get hairy, I'll just tell him the truth," He grabbed Alec's arm, gently running his fingers up it.

"B-but you can't, its- its against clave policy," Alec tried to focus.

"For shadowhunters, not warlocks. As long as I don't tell the whole world, a few people won't hurt," He said, running his hands up Alec's clothed chest, "Besides, this town was getting boring anyways, I'd much rather be at home," He kissed his lower neck, "With you," He kissed higher up on his neck, "In bed," He whispered the last words seductively in Alec's ear before licking it.

That was it for Alec, any argument he built up in his head vanished, replaced by all things Magnus. Magnus could visibly see Alec crumble, completely entranced by him, his face now turning back to it's usual, blushing state. They starred at each other for a second then Alec grabbed Magnus by his vest and kissed him, not being able to stand another moment without the warlock's lips on his own. Magnus, of course, reciprocated the kiss before pulling away a few moments later to summon a portal.

"I love that your a warlock," Alec said, admiring him. Magnus smirked and threw himself at the shadowhunter, lips locking, teeth clashing, and tongues fighting as they went through the portal that would take them back to Magnus' place, and more importantly, his bed.


	13. Chapter 13

Alec rolled over in his bed, well maybe not his bed, it was too comfortable to be his bed so it must have been Magnus', due to the sunlight that was seeping through his eye-lids. He only opened his eyes when he realized that the warlock was not lying right next to him. Alec looked around the familiar room before remembering the events of last night and smiling. He got up and put on a pair of Magnus' sweatpants that were in the dresser, he found he was now completely comfortable in places that belonged to his boyfriend without having to be told to make himself at home a thousand times. He marveled at the fact that the townhouse looked almost identical to their apartment in New York, and he was glad he could find his way around. Alec wandered out into the living room and started to smell bacon. He chuckled, remembering a time when he had never tasted bacon, not really.

His sister took after their mother in cooking abilities, so Magnus had opened up his tastebuds to everything. Handmade pizza Raffaele Esposito himself had taught Magnus to make in 18 century Italy, Macaroons he learned how to make after traveling through France, Empanadillas he picked up from Spain, Apple strudel from Austria, Paella he observed the ingredients of in Spain, Swiss chocolate, Pollo de la crema which he claims he invented though Alec was extremely skeptical, Papas a la Huancaina he learned how to make from his time in Peru, and many, many more. Foods from all over the world, you name it, and Magnus could cook it. Alec loved that about him. He loved how each meal came with an interesting background, the history of the dish from Magnus' point of view and a story about how he learned to make it. Food was kinda their way of opening up to each other.

"Mmmm, what smells so good?" Alec hummed, coming up behind Magnus as he was braiding doe and wrapping his arms around him. Alec could see some strawberries peeking out through Magnus' expert bread work, his favorite.

Magnus turned his head for a morning kiss, his finger never stopping their work with the doe. He pulled away and said, "I'm making a strawberry cream-cheese danish with a frosted sugar glaze," He smiled proudly, he loved showing off his masterpieces to Alec because he was always so amazed and awed and it gave him the cutest facial expression.

"That sounds amazing," Alec said, kissing him one more time before untangling his hands from the warlock. Alec went to the fridge and pulled out some cream so he could make coffee. As he was waiting for the hot liquid to finish pouring out of the coffee maker into his cup, he finally noticed the time, "It's 5:57?!" Alec said, surprised. He knew him and Magnus had gone to bed early last night, but he felt so well-rested and it was too bright outside.

"Yes well we did fall asleep quite early after all of that strenuous activity," Magnus enhfisised the last two words suggestively. Alec blushed, "So that gives us a half an hour to get ready while this bakes," he said gesturing to the danish he just put in the oven, "and then I'll portal us to school in time for morning glee rehearsals," he smiled.

"Ok, I'm going to go take a shower," Alec said, agreeing with the plan.

"Alright, I'm going to clean this up and then take a shower," Magnus replied, walking forward a step to kiss Alec on the cheek.

Alec smiled and shook his head while walking back towards the bedroom where the master bathroom was. Magnus smirked, Alec had said that he loved Magnus' magic, but he so often forgot that he could do magic. He waved his hand and the dirty dishes were in the dishwasher, the counters were clean, a timer for the danish was set, and Magnus was free to take a shower, or join in on a shower that was already taking place.

Alec had just stepped into the water, letting the coolness wash over his whole body. He loved cool showers, the water washing away all of his stress and tension, the temperature of his body going down, and the feeling of being clean. With all of the demon hunting that he did, the adrenaline pumping, his heart rate going up, his body temperature rising, his muscles tensing as he drew back an arrow, the dirt and grime and blood that would cling to his skin, showers had become a frequent necessity. Sometimes he would take up to 4 or 5 a day depending on his to-do list, so he had learned to love them. He loved the quiet, the serenity, the isolation. It was always a time he had to himself after a long day of being with other people. The shower was a peaceful place, that is, until he started living with Magnus.

No sooner than he had stepped into the path of the water did he hear the door to the bathroom open. He knew by now that it was just Magnus 'Trying to conserve water', Alec rolled his eyes remembering the excuse he had given him. "We still have 24 minutes left," Magnus said from behind him, right up against his back.

"No, we have to go to Schoo-" Alec started, determined to tell him 'No funny business' when he realized something, "Wait, I don't have to go to school anymore," He said with a smile.

Magnus looked a little put-off, "W-what, why?"

"Well, we only came here for a small break and to find the powerful downworlder at the school and determine whether they were a threat, and," He gestured to Magnus' body, which he just realized was completely on display because they were in the shower, "an-and well, heh, your obviously not," he finished, unwillingly blushing.

Magnus raised and eyebrow and smirked, momentarily forgetting that Alec planned on leaving him, "But darling, you can't leave yet, sectionals are this weekend. Please stay a few more days?" Magnus pleaded with him, he could see Alec was on the fence, he didn't want to go to school, but there isn't much he wouldn't do for Magnus, "With me?" Magnus added.

It seemed that this was all the incentive Alec needed, "Alright, but just until Sunday, then I have to go back. I'm still the head of the institute, and I can't give my mother that much power for so long, who knows what I might go home to," Alec didn't need to say anything more than that because Magnus knew first hand what his mother was capable of.

"Yes, wouldn't want Maryse to rearrange the spice cabinet," Magnus laughed in turn making Alec laugh. The situation was really quite hilarious, they were both in the shower, Alec covered in sandalwood shampoo and Magnus' wet hair falling into his face, naked, and they just could not stop laughing. Magnus marveled at the fact that Alec could make any situation seem completely innocent. Here they were in the shower, an act that most people found intimate, and he had somehow found a way to make the whole thing... clean.

"We've only got 20 minutes left," Alec said after he calmed down, giggles still coming out sporadicly. He leaned closer to Magnus, like he was going to kiss him and whispered, "and you've still got to do your hair."

Magnus was speechless, Alec just took his breath away. He allowed himself a moment to pout at the fact that Alec came so close to his lips, but did not, in fact, kiss him. Alec chuckled at Magnus' pouty face before turning to wash the rest of the soap out of his hair. Once it was free from all of the white suds he stepped out of the shower and grabbed two towels, one to wrap around his waist and one for his hair.

"I'll take the... breakfast," He blanked on exactly what they were having for breakfast, "out of the oven when its done, you just be ready on time," Alec smiled and left the bathroom to throw some clothes on.

Twenty-two minutes, two missed calls from Jace, several impromptu arguments about Magnus' hair, and some buttery danish slices later they arrived at school, slightly early for glee.

"Oh, there you are," Jace said in an annoyed voice when they sat down, Alec next to Jace and Magnus next to Alec.

"And what does that mean?" Alec asked in his usual monotone voice.

"It means that you haven't answered my calls or texts and you've been MIA since yesterday," Jace said a little louder, then he looked over to Magnus, "At least I know where you've been now," he chuckled, his anger quickly fading away, "And why you haven't been answering my calls," He added with a knowing smirk.

Alec went red, "I- Look, I'm sorry I didn't answer you, and for not telling you where I was, I forgot to tell you I was staying at Magnus'. We good?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"Course we are Alec," Jace said like it was nothing.

That was Jace for you, he could be enraged one second and completely chill the next. He barely ever held a grudge, at least not against his family, and his mood changed as fast as a teenage girl's. Alec was so glad he had found Clary because now she got to deal with the mood swings and give him a break.

"Alec, would you like some, since I made them for you?" Magnus asked, holding out a piece of the danish that they had no time to eat yet because Magnus took 20 minutes to do his hair.

"Definitely," Alec said before attempting to take the danish from Magnus' outstretched hand. An attempt that was fruitless because his glittery boyfriend had other ideas. Alec looked at him with an expression that said 'You-took-twenty-minutes-to-do-your-hair-and-made-us-not-have-time-to-eat-so-you-better-give-me-this-danish-because-im-hungery-and-this-looks-really-good', although, Magnus might have only gotten half of the message.

"Ah ah ah," Magnus tutted, giving Alec a look that said 'If-you-want-it-come-and-get-it'. Alec, oblivious to the fact that most of the class had come into the room and were now staring at the pair of them, rolled his eyes and took a bite out of the danish Magnus was still holding.

"Happy?" He asked, mouth full of sweet bread and strawberries.

Magnus smiled, "Quite."

Jace coughed, making the two of them turn to look at the blond haired boy, "If your done being all mushy-gushy, can I have a piece? I was too busy worrying about Alec to eat a proper breakfast."

Alec would normally say no just to annoy Jace, but he felt guilty for making his parabatai worry so he grabbed another piece from Magnus' bag and handed it to him, "Fine, but I'll remember that the next time I see you and Clary being all lovey-dovey," He said.

"Yeah right, we are no where near as bad as you two," Jace protested.

"Please, Its like watching a soap opera, 'Oh Jace, your so big and strong, I love you so much!' 'Aww, Clary your so pretty and innocent, I love you more, will you go on a date to kill demons with me?' 'Of course I will, we can be stubborn together and not listen to Alec when he says that there are way more demons than two people can handle' 'That sounds like a perfect plan my beautiful angel'," Alec mocked, doing high and low voices for both of them.

Jace looked moderately horrified and released an indignant sound when Alec had finished, "That only happened once! And we do not sound like that!" He defended, reducing to pouting in his chair with his arms crossed because he had called Clary his beautiful angel only last week.

"Sure, whatever you say," Alec smiled, happy he had won and argument against the king of deflection and denying.

"Uh, Mike?" the boy in the wheelchair Alec had yet to learn a name for asked Magnus cautiously.

"Oh, hey Artie," Magn- no Mike said. He had changed his whole demeanor to that of a shy, smart, asian high school student. Alec had to keep reminding himself that Magnus had gone through many different personas in the past few centuries.

Artie glanced toward their intertwined fingers before looking back at Ma- Mike in the eyes, "I was just wondering if you were going to come to football practice today? You missed the last twopractices and coach was wondering where you were, not to mention lunch..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, I was in the nurse's office because she thinks that when I slipped in chem that I got a concussion, but I went to the doctors and I'm fine. So, yeah, I'll be there today," M-Mike said, skillfully lying about going to the doctor's, he was a warlock, he didn't need to go to the doctors. Though Catarina strongly disagrees.

"Oh, good, we've missed you bro," Puck chimed in.

Mike just gave him a wary smile. It was hard being Mike when he could feel Alec's hand in his own. Worlds colliding was always difficult for Magnus, different people expecting him to act a certain way and if he acted even a little bit different, people would worry about him. That why he was so happy to have someone who he could be himself around, someone who accepted every part of him.

"Good morning guys, couple of announcements. I have a few more songs in mind for sectionals, but if you have suggestions I'm going to need them by the end of tomorrow. Also, I just got our competition, we will be against The Warblers. Now they are our biggest competition so we all ave to be on out A-game, and that means giving our new arrivals," he gestured to Alec and Jace, "extra help with all of the choreography and singing. Speaking of which, Jace you are the only one that hasn't done this weeks assignment, choose a song that means something, that conveys and emotion that your feeling, and sing that before the end of today. Alright, now, lets talk song selection," Mr. Schue continued talking about different songs for the theme of time but all Jace could think about was that he would have to sing. He didn't even know where to start, he didn't know many songs, and he certainly didn't know any well enough to sing.

"Alec," He said when glee was over and the were walking to their first class together, "Lets skip math, I need help with a song!"

"Wha- no Jace I can't skip class, it-" Alec started.

"Oh come on Alec, its not like we are going to be here long enough to get in trouble anyways," Alec had told Jace that they were staying until Sunday during glee practice and Jace had reluctantly accepted.

"But it-," He sighed, "Fine, but I don't know how much help I'll be, I know about as much music as you do," Alec told him.

"Well how did you do that whole song?" Jace wondered.

"I heard it on the bus, looked up the lyrics, and used a recall rune to remember them," Alec confessed.

"Well, that takes care of the memorization part, thanks. Now I just have to find a song," Jace said and took off toward the library, leaving Alec standing in alone in a deserted hallway.

"Your welcome!" Alec called after him and then sighed and walked aimlessly down the hallway, not wanting to walk in late to his math class.

"Fag," a guy in a varsity jacket coughed and bumped Alec's shoulder with his own as he passed him.

Alec's jaw tightened, he took a deep breath and kept walking. He knew what the vulgar comment meant, even if none of the nephilim used such slang. He was momentarily glad to be a shadowhunter because he didn't stagger at all when the boy had knocked into him, he would not show them any weakness. Alec would never get used to the comments or the stares when he said he had a boyfriend, but he would be damned if he allowed himself to be bothered by it.

As he was thinking about this, and what he would do if he got into a confrontational situation, a hand gently grabbed his arm and pulled him into a bathroom. Instincts kicking in, he pushed the person up against the wall, which made the person hum in a pleasantly surprised way. Alec released a breath, "Magnus, wha-" but he was cut off by the others lips, not that he minded.

"I have off this period," He smiled and took Alec's hand and led him to the back of the bathroom where there was a... door? "Its an unknown part of the school," Magnus said, which was code for 'I-made-this-room'. Alec looked around the room that was not supposed to be there and was surprised to find a cosy couch and a fridge. He smiled at his boyfriend and kissed his cheek.

"You surprise me a lot too, you know?" Alec whispered. Magnus smiled and they sat down on a couch, cuddling until the next bell rung.


	14. Chapter 14

Magnus walked into his physics classroom with a smile on his face. He radiated confidence, something that Mike Chang hardly did. Magnus was beginning to wonder why he had made his alias the type of person who blends into the background, when he himself loved attention.

"What's got you so smug?" Jace asked snapping Magnus out of his day dream.

"Nothing that concerns you," Magnus replied, trying to stop smiling.

"It's Alec isn't it? Please tell me you two didn't do it in a bathroom somewhere," Jace rolled his eyes looking mildly disgusted.

Magnus scoffed, "I would never reduce to that, do you know how many germs are in public bathrooms? Not to mention high school bathrooms," he got goose bumps just thinking about it.

Jace did not get to reply though because their teacher walked in.

"Open your books to page 94, Jace you can look on with Mike," She said turning to write something on the board.

Alec was contemplating skipping gym again, but decided he wouldn't skip what could very well be his favorite class due to a few mundanes. He saw Jace talking and laughing it up with what teen movies would classify as "The Jocks", one of which was the guy who had bumped him in the hallway earlier. The moment the doors shut behind him the room became considerably quieter, those who didn't cease talking were now whispering and quietly giggling with their friends. Alec took a deep breath and kept walking into the gym, ignoring the pit in his stomach. He was used to being looked at oddly, but more of a 'oh-that-poor-confused-boy' kind of look. This was a new feeling, a worse feeling. The Clave disapproved of his relationship, but it had more to do with the fact that his boyfriend was a downworlder and less to do with the fact that he had a boyfriend. Not that they were fond of gayness, but they didn't let their intolerance blind them to the fact that Alec was a capable shadowhunter. His sexuality didn't undermine his abilities and he was still viewed as a capable warrior. Same goes for his age, he looked like a kid and so here he was treated like a kid even though he had seen things, done things that no kid should have to. He thought this assignment would be fun, a little time off with his parabatai, a relaxing vacation from the responsibilities of being the head of the New York Institute, but now he was deeply regretting letting Jace talk him into this.

"Alec!" Jace called from his position in the middle of the circle of 'Jocks' and motioned for his best friend to join him. Alec wasn't going to let a few stupid mundanes make him feel like this. He took a deep breath and walked over to the oblivious blonde who thought everything was just fine. Alec knew that Jace didn't see the looks of distain and disgust that washed over the other boys faces, but he could see it.

He walked over to Jace quietly and stood next to him with his arms behind his back like he usually does. Jace just smiled at him and continued on with his story like nothing had changed.

"Wait- wait," one of the jocks interrupted, laughing, "are-are we really not going to say anything about the fag? I mean come on guys, this is too easy!"

Alec tensed, he had expected that but it still hit him. In a split second Jace's entire demeanor changed, he went from laughing and smiling and being goofy to dark and controlled and scary.

"What did you say?" Jace said in a voice so calm that nobody but Alec saw exactly how deadly he was right now.

"Jace," Alec said in a warning tone.

"What? I mean he sang that girly song to that glittery faggot and he thinks he can just get away with that?" he responded, not seeing the way it was effecting Jace because he was too focused on watching Alec grit his teeth and ball his hands. They could talk about him, but Magnus was off limits. The other boys chuckled in agreement. Jace's jaw was so tight Alec thought his teeth might snap and his hands were balled into fists.

"Jace," Alec warned again much more sharply.

The Jocks finally realized that Jace was in a fighting stance and his look was threatening, "Ha, what are you defending that thing?" he pointed to Alec, "Do you seriously think you can take us on?" he asked, all of his comrades standing up and murmuring agreements.

"I don't know are you going to be a wuss and fight one on eight?" Jace sneered.

"Jace that's enough," Alec said grabbing his upper arm. Jace fought him for a second but then he went with him willingly, being pulled away from the potentially confrontational environment.

"Yeah! Thats right queers always run away from fights, I guess its because there too much of a-" But he didn't get to finish his no doubt insulting sentence because of a certain blonde socking him in his face. It happened too quick for Alec to know what was happening, let alone stop it.

"Got anymore smart-ass comments?" Jace asked from his position on top of the now bleeding guy.

"Get him," he said towards the other seven dudes who were just waiting for the question to pounce. Two of them grabbed Jace and Jace sent one of them flying across the room. The other five of them started to Jace. Alec gritted his teeth, he was going to kill Jace for this later, but he would not let his parabatai fight on his behalf alone. Alec grabbed two of the guys and chucked them against the wall, making them let out yelps of surprise. Jace had successfully taken down three of the eight guys and Alec had gotten two which only left three. Two of them looked scared and one of the two ran away, leaving just the scaredy cat and the leader. Jace moved forward to take them out but Alec grabbed his arm.

"Jace stop, you've gotten us into enough trouble over this meaningless fight," Alec pleaded with him.

"Meaningless?! They were calling you names, insulting you and not to mention every other person in this school who's different! I'm preventing a bully from bullying, that is not meaningless. You are not meaningless, Alec," Jace finished and Alec loosened his grip. Alec smiled at him until he understood what Jace was doing, he did mean what he said, but thats not why he said it. He was trying to distract Alec so that he could wriggle out of his grip. And he had because Jace was now advancing on the two boys with a dark look. Before Alec could even take three steps towards Jace to prevent the impending fight, the two boys were scrambling away from Jace on the floor where Jace had placed them.

"What the hell going on here!?" Coach, who had finally come out of the locker room with her football players, yelled at them. When nobody made a move to tell her she added, "That was a question, I expect an answer!"

"He- They just came at us and beat the shit out of us, we would have kicked their asses but we didn't want to break to schools policy on fighting!" The head asshole, as Jace was now calling him, said.

"Wha- Thats not even a little bit true?!" Jace said exasperatedly.

"You two," Coach pointed at Alec and Jace, "My office, now!" She started walking back to the locker room, expecting the boys to follow, which they did. Alec was walking slowly behind Jace passed the footballers, noticing a few from glee including-

"Magnus," Alec breathed so quiet he was sure that only the warlock could hear him. He had know he was on this football team or whatever, but seeing him in that uniform, with the skin-tight pants, not like Magnus hasn't worn them before but still... And then there was the minimal makeup and barley any glitter which always made Alec stare at him, at his beautiful, natural features.

"Good luck Alexander," Magnus said to him and he remembered that he was supposed to be going into coach's office. He smiled again at Magnus and took one last glance at his gorgeous warlock, and then proceeded to walk into the office.

"So, what happened?" She asked the two boys sitting across the desk from her.

"Those jack-asses were-" Jace started.

"Language," Coach warned, but not in a mean tone.

"Sorry, those buttheads were bullying Alec, so I-" Jace tried to continue before getting cut off again.

"How were they bullying him?" She asked Jace but quickly turned her head to look at Alec who just looked embarrassed and uncomfortable.

"It wasn't that big of a deal," Alec said quietly. Just as Jace thought, Alec would do anything to protect someone else, especially someone he cared about, but he wouldn't defend himself unless it was to someone he cared about. Alec's motto "Those who matter don't mind, and those who mind don't matter" at least, thats how Jace saw it.

"Yes it was Alec, they were calling him rude names, insinuating that he wasn't a real person, and threatening him," Jace told her.

"Is this true Alec?" She asked him and Alec couldn't say no because he had to back up Jace.

"Yes," He said, leaving it with that.

"So when I confronted them about what they said, this one guy just took a swing at me and when I stopped him he told the rest of the guys to attack me," Jace explained.

"But you fought back?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"What was I supposed to do let them pummel me? I used minimal force and was on defense!" Jace explained.

"Jace is right, they were attacking him- us. I tried to help get them off of him, but you can't punish him, he was just defending me. It was my fault, if your going to discipline someone, it should be me," Alec said, sticking up for Jace in a heartbeat.

"And why would I punish you? Either of you, you didn't do anything wrong. though this school does have a policy against fighting so I'm afraid I will have to give you both a detention after school today, but thats no where near the amount of trouble they are in," Coach Beiste said. She always had a soft spot for the underdog, especially after what she had seen Kurt and Blaine go through, "Your free to go," Jace and Alec got up to leave, "But you might consider joining the football team?" She directed to Jace.

"We won't be here that long," Jace smiled at her, she was nice.

"Well what do you want to do?" Alec asked Jace. They still had 20 minutes left in class and since the coach was yelling at the boys, there was no one to give them instructions so the whole class was just sitting and talking on the bleachers.

"Your not going to yell at me?" Jace asked, surprise and caution in his voice.

Alec sighed, he had thought about yelling at Jace, but he knew he couldn't, "No, I can't because I would have done the same thing if it were you. But don't expect a thank you either," Alec said light-heartedly.

"Don't need one, I'm your parabatai, it's my job," Jace smiled and clapped his hand on Alec's shoulder.

"I say we go watch football practice," Alec suggested.

Jace snorted, "You just want to stare a Magnus while he stretches,"

Alec blushed slightly, but he didn't blush as much around his parabatai as he did around others, "Can't blame me," He smiled.

Jace just chuckled and followed Alec outside to the bleachers where they watched the scrimmage take place, Alec's eyes not leaving Magnus the whole time.

After another unspeakably awkward heath class, Jace and Alec walked into the cafeteria and headed towards the table where all of the glee kids sat at. As soon as they sat down the conversations stopped and all of the occupants of the table starred at them.

"So, did you get in trouble?" Puck asked, breaking the silence.

"Just one detention," Jace smirked proudly.

"I think it was amazing what you did, they had it coming," Blaine told them wrapping an arm around Kurt who was nodding his head.

"Hell yeah, we've been wanting to do that for ages, but with our spots on the football team..." Finn said.

"It wasn't that big of a deal..." Alec mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't like getting attention, especially not when he didn't deserve it.

"Oh I totally disagree," said a velvety voice behind Alec. He could feel a hand being placed on his shoulder then moving down to his chest. Magnus then proceeded to kiss his cheek and sit down in the empty seat next to him, letting his hands fall back on to the table. Alec could feel everyone at the table stare at them, everyone but Jace for which Alec was thankful for. He was blushing but he managed a smile towards his love.

"So..." Tina said, breaking everyone out of the curious stares.

"What's the deal with you two?" Santana asked, being blunt as always.

Alec looked like a deer caught in headlights, or a shadowhunter caught off guard by a personal question about his love life. Lucky for him he had the best boyfriend in the world who knew when he didn't want to talk, "I could ask you the same thing," He nodded to Brittany.

"None of us want to be intrusive, but Mike you've been different this week and he-" Rachel pointed to Alec, "isn't someone any of us have seen before so we are all just curious what is going on with you."

"Yeah," Tina added, "I used to think I knew you pretty well, as I'm sure they did, now its like the you we knew was just, like, 10% of the real you, its pretty hard to just act like nothing's happened."

Magnus sighed, though he was always happy to have Alexander by his side, part of him wished that his shadowhunter was still in New York. But he did have to admit to himself that it was better this way, everything out in the open. Besides, Alec was way more important to him than any of these people. Plus if he truly considered all of these mundanes friends, which he did for the most part, than he couldn't keep this part of his life hidden for forever, "Alright, how about you all come over to my place tonight? We can have a small party and you all can ask whatever you want to know, not that I can promise to answer all of them," Magnus said to the glee kids he had grown fond of the past year.

Alec looked at him like he was insane, inviting all of these mundanes to their home. Alec reminded himself that it was Magnus' house, and not their true home in New York, but it was still a place that he felt safe in, a place he thought of as theirs. Magnus had said time and time again that what was his was Alec's and Alec was just starting to feel comfortable with that. He no longer felt awkward in the apartment when Magnus was not home, and he felt comfortable inviting Jace or Izzy over without checking with Magnus first, not to mention he didn't feel weird being in Magnus work space or reading his papers or being their when Magnus had clients over any more. It was his job as the High Warlock of Brooklyn and Alec was accepting the odd hours, suspicious people, and questionable activities that came with it just as much as Magnus had about his shadowhunter duties. Alec felt safe saying that it was their home and not just Magnus' house, he did live there after all. Magnus just smiled at him innocently.

There were murmurs of agreement throughout the table and everyone went back to talking until the bell rang.

"So, Jace, have you come up with a song?" Mr. Schue asked the golden haired boy.

"Yep!" Jace said, masking his emotions with confidence and goofiness, though Alec could feel the nervousness from him though their parabatai bond.

Jace stood up and walked to the front of the class. He glance at Alec who gave him a reassuring smile and nod. He nodded to the band whom he had given the music to and took a deep breath before starting to sing.

Hey, brother, there's an endless road to re-discover.  
Hey, sister, know the water's sweet but blood is thicker.  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

Hey, brother, do you still believe in one another?  
Hey, sister, do you still believe in love, I wonder?  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

What if I'm far from home?  
Oh, brother, I will hear you call.  
What if I lose it all?  
Oh, sister, I will help you out!  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

Hey, brother, there's an endless road to re-discover.  
Hey, sister, do you still believe in love, I wonder?  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

What if I'm far from home?  
Oh, brother, I will hear you call.  
What if I lose it all?  
Oh, sister, I will help you out!  
Oh, if the sky comes falling down for you,  
There's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.

When the instrumental part kicked in, Jace danced pretty ok which surprised Alec, he must have gotten help. Alec thought over the lyrics and smiled at their family dynamic. He was very happy he recorded it because he would have to show Isabelle this later. And Clary. And maybe he would just put it on the big screen for all the institute to see.

Everyone clapped and cheered but Alec just smiled at Jace who was smiling back. The words never needed to be said but sometimes it was nice to hear them.


	15. Chapter 15

Lucky for Magnus, today in Spanish class they were having conversations with a partner about how to plan for a party, how to set up for a party, what you do durning the part, and what you do after the party. Alec and him talked the whole class about the party and how Alec was a little uncomfortable with a bunch of people he didn't know, mundanes no less, coming into his home. Magnus assured him that these people were trustable and that this was important to him, so of course Alec supported him.

In history class Jace gave Alec a death glare for making him work with the annoying girl sitting next to him while he watched Magnus type their essay. Alec had volunteered to do the work but Magnus said he wanted to, that it would help him to remember that part of his past. Alec would ask him about things that he wrote and occasionally pointed out grammatical errors. Their presentation was about how the Great Depression effected people, not financially or physically but emotionally. How it made people feel to loose their jobs and homes, how they felt when their families were split out, how they all were very desperate for any way to make it better. Magnus got a far away look in his eye when he talked about it, telling Alec how powerless he felt, how their were so many people he couldn't save.

"There's not much you could've done, these people were looking for a way out of the mess that had become their lives, none of that was your fault," Alec consoled him.

"I know that, but I can't help but feel like I should've done more," Magnus said, turning to face Alec who was sitting behind him, "They're not just names in a text book to me, I can put faces, personalities, smiles to most of them," Magnus laughed dryly, "I was mostly unaffected by the financial part of it, in fact, even more people wanted the High Warlock of Brooklyn help after that," Magnus was looking solemnly at his hands. Alec leaned forward and wrapped his arms around him, not knowing what else he could do.

When the bell rang the two young adults and the young-looking elderly man made their way to the glee room for their free period. "So, I'm having a gathering at my place tonight, who's coming?" Magnus told everyone when he walked into the room. Alec rolled his eyes at Magnus use of "gathering" he had started calling his parties that when Alec complained about having a bunch of strangers in their home at all hours of the night. Magnus proceeded to tell him that they weren't strangers but when Alec asked him to name the werewolf that had just broken a vase, Magnus just smiled and kicked everyone out.

"A what?" Puck said.

Magnus sighed and rolled his eyes, "A party, a get together, a game night. You all said you wanted to know what was up with me I'm giving you a chance to figure it out. It will be at this address at," he said looking to Alec for a time to put on the invitations he was about to create.

"Five," Alec supplied.

"Five O'clock sharp," He then pulled a stack of neat invitations out of his bag leaving people wondering where he got them if Alec had just told him the time.

Magnus was a bit glad that Alec and Jace had detention because it gave him time to set up for his gathering without criticism or nagging because he summoned all of the supplies from a party city. Magnus had come up with a few games for that night, similar to the mundane games he had always loved, but with his own twist.

"Now, I want each of you to just think about why you're here and how you could have avoided being here," The psychology teacher who was doing detentions that week told them. She handed out a paper they were supposed to fill out.

Questions were as follows: What did you do wrong? How could you better approach the situation next time? Do you regret it? If you could go back what would you have done differently? Etc…..

Jace looked at the paper with a confused exasperated look then turned to Alec who was next to him, "For the record, the only thing I regret is not knocking out a tooth," He huffed, "There should be more punishment for someone like him, there's nothing wrong with you and anyone who says differently will have to answer to me," Jace said, more to himself than Alec.

Alec just smiled at his parabatai's overprotectiveness, but also truly appreciated the reassurance, "Just don't write that on the sheet or else we'll never get out of here," he whispered to him.

"Eager to see the warlock?" Jace teased, he still called Magnus "the warlock" but in an endearing sort of way.

Alec playfully glared at him, "More like I don't want him to destroy the apartment," He shivered remembering last time he came home after one of Magnus' parties.

"No talking!" The teacher yelled and The boys went back to quietly lying on the paper.

"Magnus?" Alec called walking into the town house with Jace behind him. Alec could hear the shower running and he saw the party preparations in the living room.

"This looks exactly the same as your one in Brooklyn," Jace stated.

"Yeah, I noticed," Alec deadpanned, "You can get a drink or something, I'm going to go check on Magnus," Alec told him, praying he wouldn't bring up the fact that Magnus was in the shower.

But alas, it was Jace, "Oooh I get it, just keep it down would ya, I don't need nightmares,"

Alec blushed a deep red, "Jace!" He squeaked, his voice an octave higher, "Its not- I wasn't- we won't- ugh, forget it," Alec said finally, deciding not to give into his brothers antics.

"Use protection!" Jace yelled after him.

Alec gritted his teeth as he closed the bedroom door. He took a deep breath so he wasn't aggravated when he walked into the bathroom to greet Magnus.

"Hey Mags, its 4:30 and people are going to start showing up soon, you almost done?" He asked standing on the other side of the glass shower door, though it was too fogged up to see anything.

"Well, I was, but then you showed up…" he trailed off seductively.

"No, Jace is in the living room and you have people to entertain," Alec said, not even blushing at the insinuation, probably because he was still annoyed. Annoyed at Jace, annoyed at the detention teacher, annoyed at the guy who was taunting him, and annoyed at Magnus for inviting people over when all he wanted to do was curl up next to his boyfriend and pretend to watch a movie while he starred at him.

The water shut off and before he could do anything Magnus stepped out and hugged him. Alec was speechless for a moment, for this was a sweet gesture, but Magnus was completely naked and soaking wet. "Aahharg!" Alec made an un-shadowhuntery noise, pushing the laughing warlock off of him.

"Oh well, now I guess you will just have to change your clothes," He smirked, removing Alec's shirt. Alec let out a chuckle and rolled his eyes, this was the man he loved. They walked back into the bedroom, each going for their wardrobes to change.

After a few minutes, Magnus broke the silence, "I am sorry for not asking you first, and-" Magnus paused, vulnerability showing, "and for what those boys said earlier. You are the most precious thing I have ever had the honor to meet. And I get to call you mine, it's amazing to me sometimes. Alexander, you have touched my heart in a way I can not even begin to explain, you will always be a part of who I am from now on. I love you more than I could ever express and I will not let you go through anything alone," he finished, a tear streaming down his face. Alec had gotten closer to him during his speech and now put a hand up to his cheek to wipe away the salty liquid.

Alec smiled at the man who had made his life worth living, who had broken him out of his shell and helped to show him who he really was. "I love you Magnus, I didn't know I was capable of loving someone so much. What I have with Jace," he paused to think and Magnus was silent knowing that words did not come easy to him, "that was the closest thing to love I had before you, I assumed that I was in love with him because I didn't know what real love felt like until I met you, until you showed me. You accepted me, and you helped me accept myself, and for that, for loving me- I- I can't find the words to express how much you mean to me," He was breathing heavy and tears were rolling down his face, his clean shirt still in his hand. Magnus just smiled back at him and kissed him, relaying all of the emotions he wanted the other to know he felt.

"Hey, guys people are showing up-" Jace opened the door but stopped when he saw the shirtless boys kissing. He snorted, breaking them out of their moment, "Knew it!" Was all he said as he left the room.

"I'm sorry for him," Alec said, pulling on his shirt while Magnus snapped his fingers so he was dressed and his makeup was on. He was wearing black leather pants and a purple silk shirt with tons of rings, and necklaces. And glitter of course.

"No need to apologize, just... never give him a key," he joked.

"You think that would stop him?" Alec laughed, opening the door to find everyone standing awkwardly around the living room. Jace was just sprawled out on the couch with his feet up like he owned the place and every one of the glee kids was looking around their house. Once they both stepped out everyone turned and starred at them.

Magnus straightened up and smiled, "Shall we begin?"


	16. Chapter 16

"Feel free to help yourselves to the refreshments and food," Magnus said after a minute of silence.

"Okay, this awkwardness is getting to me. Why are you all just standing there, sit down and lets do what you all came here to do!" Jace said like it was the most obvious solution.

Magnus was thankful for his boyfriends parabatai in that moment. Though there had been moments where he was jealous of the role Jace played in Alec's life, he had accepted how important they were to each other and after a chat with Tessa, he was over any resentment.

"Sounds good," Quinn said, sitting on one of the pillows that were laid out in a circle on the floor. Magnus sat down too, pulling Alec with him and everyone else followed. If anyone were to come in they would marvel at the sight, teenagers sitting in a circle on the floor, with the exception of Jace sprawled out on the couch. It looked like a typical teen party, though it was far from it. Magnus and Alec were sitting with their backs against the couch, Jace's head next to Alec, Puck next to the couch (and Jace), leaving a considerable amount of space between Alec and him, Finn with Rachel on his other side, Kurt and Blaine sitting next to them with Mercedes next to them, so that Rachel Mercedes and Kurt could gossip if they needed to, with Artie, Tina, and Sam next to her and Brittany, Santana, and Quinn looping the circle back around to Magnus.

"So what are we doing?" Mercedes asked.

"Well I thought we could play a few games," Magnus said.

"What, like truth or dare?" Santana asked with attitude.

"Two truths and a lie?" Quinn added.

"Something along those lines, unless your too mature for that?" Magnus said sarcastically treating them like they were much younger than him, which they were, but they didn't know that. When no one said anything Magnus continued, "We can do Truth or Dare as you call it first. Nothing too invasive or personal," he glared at Puck and Santana, "If someone chickens out they have to have a full table spoon of veggimite, but if it's determined the question or dare doesn't follow the rules then the person who asked it will have to eat it. Now, who wants to go first?" Magnus asked after laying down the rules.

"I'll go," Jace said from the couch. Everyone looked at him startled, like they forgot he was there.

"Jace, get your feet off my couch!" Alec yelled, then blushed a little at what he said. His couch. Magnus also noticed and smiled at him, everyone else looking intrigued.

Jace just scooted forward so his feet hung off the couch, "You," he pointed to Artie, "Truth or Dare?"

"Dare,"

"You know any cool tricks on that thing?" Jace asked.

Most people would be offended by that question or too scarred to ask it but Artie just smiled and told everyone to give him some space. First he leaned back then he went on one wheel then proceeded to spin on one wheel. He had everyone clapping and whistling before he even had two wheels on the ground again.

Everybody then looked to Puck who was next to go, "Mike," He didn't need to ask the question.

"Dare," Magnus said, not too eager to start the interrogation he knew was coming.

Puck was silent for a moment, "Uhh, I dare you to... wear lipstick for the rest of the game!" He finished triumphantly, obviously proud of himself.

Magnus just smirked and chuckled inwardly, appreciating the irony. He had had on lipstick to match his shirt and his silver glittery eye-liner, but Alec had smudged it in their little make-out session so he just took it off. If only they knew that he had a whole collection of lipstick, eye-liner, glitter, blush, earrings, eyeshadow- Magnus shook his head, he was getting off track. Point was, he happened to have the perfect shade for this outfit already on his dresser.

Jace snorted, "That's like daring an athlete to do push-ups,"

"I happened to have the perfect shade," Magnus said, shocking most of the rooms occupants. One of many, many shocked looks to come before the night was over. Magnus stood up and walked into his and Alec's bedroom coming out two minutes later with deep purple lips to match his silk purple shirt. Alec smiled at him when he sat back down beside him.

"Ok, my turn right?" Finn asked rhetorically. He glanced around at the people in the room, deciding on who to ask, "Alec, truth or dare?"

Alec looked like a deer caught in headlights, "Oh- uh, dar- err- t-truth," he said, flustered. He hated the feeling of being watched, especially by a bunch of people who didn't know him, but, for Magnus, he would do it.

"What do your tattoo's mean?" He asked.

Alec looked at Magnus and Jace for help but both of them looked just as puzzled on how to explain it, "Um, well each one represents an ability, err trait that I- Um they're supposed to help me do things, like each one is for a specific purpose. Like this one," he pointed to his calm anger rune, "is to help keep me keep calm. This one," he rolled up his sleeve to show them his recall rune, "is to help me remember things, uh, supposedly," he added, forgetting that they don't know that his runes actually have power, "And this one," he lifted up his shirt so they could see the parabatai rune on his abdomen, "is for…" Alec was having trouble finding the words to describe a parabatai. There was no mundane word that was enough, Jace was a part of him, part of his soul, there would never be enough words to describe that.

"Friendship," Jace supplied, lifting his own shirt to show them his matching rune. Alec smiled gratefully at him.

"Wow, so is that like a religious thing? Or…" Quinn asked.

"Umm, yeah, I-I guess it is," Alec said, "who's turn?" He asked, desperate to get the attention off of him.

"Mine," Rachel said, "Mike, truth or dare?"

"Truth," he said, taking a breath. Magnus didn't know why he was so nervous, he was hardly shy and he was certainly too old to be intimidated by some teenagers. And yet there was a part of him that cared what they thought about him.

"What's your name?" She asked extremely innocently. After a silence she spoke again, not bad-naturedly, just curiously, "Because they," she pointed to Jace and Alec, "call you something different, and they seem to know you a whole lot better than we do."

Magnus cleared his throat, he didn't understand why he felt like he had been caught. He's never truly hid who he was before, just played different roles. He was powerful, important, a leader of the downworld and not just in New-York. He had been everywhere and done so much, he had influential contacts, clients, and friends in almost every country, he had even been called upon by the Queen of France herself for help once or twice, thought that was almost 2 centuries ago. He had been at most of the events in their history books, known a lot of the people that they learned about, and yet, he was hesitant about telling these children who he was. Magnus would deny that he knew the reason why, but deep down he knew It was because he didn't want them to react badly, didn't want to loose any more friends. But, he couldn't help anyone else feelings, just his own, that was a lesson he had learned many a time, one, he guessed, he was still learning, "When I got here, I wanted to blend into the background, be someone else for a while. I was board and grieving a very dear friend of mine, and since I could not go back to Peru to remember him, I googled Lima and ended up here. I introduced myself as Mike Chang as though not to draw attention because I knew my friends would be looking for me. The name that most people know me by is Magnus Bane," He finished. Alec's hand found his and gave it a supportive squeeze.

"So what should we call you?" Tina asked.

"Whichever you prefer, I don't mind," Magnus answered with a smile that stood out so much more with that particular shade of lipstick.

"Alright, well, Jace, truth or dare?" Kurt asked, trying to alleviate the tension and silence.

"Truth, I guess," he said, not wanting to get off his position on the couch just yet.

"Hmmm, whats the best thing to happen to you so far in your life?" Kurt always asked the deep questions.

Jace stopped running his fingers through his hair. That was a deep question, he expected it to be something shallow like, 'Are you single?' or 'Are you a virgin?'. He quickly ran through all of the events in his life. Being with Valentine who he thought was his father. No. His 'father' dying and leaving him alone. No. Finding out Clary was his sister. Hell no. Finding out Clary wasn't his sister, meeting her, loving her. He was about to start talking about that when he remembered the events in between Valentine and Clary, when the Lightwoods took him in. But it was more than that, sure Maryse gave him a home and Izzy was the best little sister, but there was only one person who didn't make him feel abnormal. Everyone else looked at him, or treated him like a piece of glass, but not Alec. Alec just asked him if he wanted to train and they had been training ever since. It was the best feeling in the world to know that wherever you are, someone always has your back, someone always cares about you, someone will protect you from the world with everything they have. Without Alec, he wouldn't even be alive right now, he would have died of despair after his 'father' died, he would have been slayed by that shax demon, killed by that vampire, maimed by a werewolf, and died of countless other things if it weren't for Alec always having his back.

"Meeting Alec," He stated, keeping it plain and simple. It was too much to explain to the mundanes about a bond they could never understand. They all looked mildly surprised and nodded their heads. Alec looked at him with a look of understanding and gave him a smiled and a nod. Jace reciprocated that by grabbing his shoulders then returning to his position on the couch.

"Its great that you guys have such a good friendship," Kurt responded. When nobody said anything else everyone just looked at Blaine.

"My turn already, ok, Mike truth or dare," Blaine asked.

"There should be a rule about how many times you can call on a person," Jace said, seeing as how this was the third question to be directed at Magnus and they weren't even halfway around the circle.

"Its fine, truth," Magnus said, knowing that his friends didn't really want him to pick dare.

"How long have you two been dating?" He asked gesturing at Alec and his still intertwined hands. Alec quickly untangled his hand from Magnus' and put it back in his lap, looking at the ground. He hated being asked questions about his relationship, the only person he felt comfortable talking about his relationship with was Magnus because Magnus was also in the relationship. He would brave questions from Jace and Izzy as long as they weren't too personal, but he drew the line after that.

"Around two months, but it feels like much longer," Magnus answered, leaving it at that for Alec's sake. If it were up to him he could have talked about that boy all night, could have filled up a library with words just about his hair if he had been asked to. But Alec was uncomfortable, so Magnus was short in his answer.

Mercedes was next, "Alright Rachel,"

"Dare," She said with a smile.

"I dare you to kiss someone in this room, not a make-out session, just a peck," She said.

"Ok, everyone close your eyes!," She told them all. Before Alec closed his eyes he saw the look on Finn's face, he was so sure she was going to kiss him, and why wouldn't she, they were engaged.

After a minute of closing their eyes and being quiet there was a shocked screech. It was a yelp of surprise and disgust. Everyone opened their eyes to see Kurt violently wiping his mouth on his sleeve and Rachel in the same spot next to him smiling. Everyone except Kurt started laughing, Blaine and Finn laughing the hardest.

After another hour and a bunch of stupid dares it was Santana's 2nd turn and she was in a mischievous mood after being dared by Brittany to wear a 'unicorn horn' for the rest of the game. And by 'unicorn horn' she meant a rainbow snow cone cup that was in Magnus' pantry.

"Hazel eyes, pick your poison," She said to Alec.

Alec had gotten semi-used to the people in his living room and he had answered many questions so he felt up for a small dare. So far there hadn't been anything that had been dared that was too bad and no questions that he wouldn't have answered, so he felt confident that whatever silly dare she had in mind, he could do it with no problems. He did not, however, know Santana like Magnus did. He was wary of whatever she would do to him, because she could be quite vicious. "Dare," Alec said semi-confidently.

Her smile grew into that of a cat who had just cornered a mouse. Magnus shot her a sharp glare that warned her not to be too hard on his sweet, innocent nephilim, "Go into the other room, give a lap dance, or receive a hickey from someone here," She commanded.

Alec's eyes widened along with half of the rest of the room, "Woah, Santana, don't you think thats a little much?" Finn asked, hoping everyone else would agree.

"What? The rules said nothing about it being sexual, and this is not too invasive, its not like we're going to watch, unless you want us to," She directed the last part to Alec who's eyes were wide and mouth was slightly ajar along with that blush that was creeping onto his face, "Besides, I even gave him a choice!" When nobody said anything to protest Santana said, "Well? Go on, Mike still has to go and then we can do something different! Hurry up!"

Alec was breathing a bit heavier and there was panic in his eyes, not that anyone but Jace and Magnus could really tell. He was freaking out, everyone was looking at him and expecting him to get up and- and- Magnus and his sexy time was not for public consumption, it was for them when they were alone, not for entertainment. But he didn't want to back out and look like a wimp, not after what those boys at the school said about him. He would put on a brave face and break down another time, like he always did.

"Alexander, you don't have to," Magnus reminded him looking at him with love and concern, and a glint of something else. Some part of Magnus wanted to do this, Alec realized, but would never do it if Alec didn't want to.

"It-its-its fine," He stuttered out, standing up abruptly and fast-walking into the bedroom, out of sight.

Magnus sighed, this game was supposed to be fun but now it felt like this was being forced upon them. After a glare at Santana he followed Alec into their bedroom, "Oh Alexander," He breathed when he saw Alec sitting on the bed staring at the wall, his hands in his lap. Alec glanced up at him and let out a small laugh before looking away, trying to hide his shy blush. Magnus sat down next to him and out a hand on his back, "Hey, look at me," He said using his other hand to gently guide his face upwards, "We don't have to do anything darling," He said caringly, his eyes filled with so much love. When Alec didn't respond Magnus said, "If you want I can even send them all home and we can curl up and watch a movie,"

"No! I- no, don't do that, Its fine, I-I want to do it, besides your having fun. Its me who's ruining everything," Alec said, looking away again.

Magnus laughed, "Alec, your hardly ruining anything, why would you think that?"

"I dont know, I mean, everyone out there is just so... different. From each other and what I'm used to, I just feel like those are the people you fit in with. I can see you hanging out wth people like that, people who aren't afraid to be themselves, and embrace who they are. They're just so... out there, and I'm-" He sighed. Alec knew how he felt but I was hard to explain, "I just feel like 'why me?' I'm not like that, I hate attention and I don't dress very good and I can't-"

"Alexander, I'm going to stop you before you say anything else against yourself. Your amazing, your kind, compassionate, sympathetic, you put everyone else above yourself, and you have the most beautiful heart of anyone I've ever met, and I've met a lot of people. Not to mention well built, stunningly gorgeous, and sexy. Never, never compare yourself to another because there is no one good enough to even come close. Is that what's been bothering you the whole night?" Magnus asked.

"I-I guess, I just feel so... insignificant," Alec looked back up at him.

"Your anything but that," Magnus said to him, getting closer, "Your beautiful," He kissed him, "Strong," He kissed his jaw, "Smart," Magnus trailed kisses down his neck, "Important," He whispered against Alec's neck, sending shivers down his spine, "Sexy," Magnus started sucking on that spot of pale skin in the corner of his deflect rune. Alec started breathing harder, holding back a moan. Normally Magnus would do something to make him loose control and release those sweet sounds he loved hearing though Alec hated making, but he knew Alec would not appreciate that with 13 people in the other room. Alec was now grasping Magnus' arm, while Magnus nipped and sucked harder, "Loved," Magnus whispered, giving the now reddish purple spot a gentle kiss. Magnus then pulled away to look at the dazed boy, "I love you," He said quietly but firmly.

"I love you too," Alec said in the same tone before surging forward and kissing Magnus.

"Now, what do you say we go back and join the party?" Magnus said, smiling like the teenager he hadn't been in a long time. Alec just nodded and got up following his boyfriend.

"Walk of shame boys?" Santana asked, but in a far less menacing way. Alec noticed that a few faces held small traces of fear and most of the people were purposefully looking anywhere but Alec. Alec came to the conclusion Jace had had a... talk with them. He rolled his eyes but was secretly greatfull for his parabatai.

"I feel no shame," Magnus responded, sitting back down in his spot and pulling Alec down next to him.

"Well its your turn so go," She said.

Magnus smiled, "Brittany, truth or truth?" He asked, knowing that she would get confused and pick truth.

"Uhh, I guess I have to go with truth," She said.

"Is Santana always this bitchy, or is it just to us?" He asked much to the dismay of Santana (and Alec who frowned upon such language).

"Santana is a magical creature, and frankly I find that offensive because she is a unicorn and everybody knows that unicorns have no relations to female dogs," She said in her normal voice. Jace laughed and Alec looked a little confused, the two not being used to Brittany and her ways of thinking.

"So, what are we doing now? Its only 6:30," Sam said since they had agreed on 2 rounds of truth or dare.

"Two truths and a lie, with the option of telling the story if everyone else wants to hear it," Magnus told everyone.

"I'll go first," Blaine based his hand, "Ok, I once made out with a supermodel, I have a crush on Harry Styles, and one time I ran out of hair gel right before a performance," He finished.

"Alright everyone, write down 1, 2, or 3 on a piece of paper and give them to me," Magnus told them so that they could keep score.

The New Directions were confused, had that pad of paper always been there? It was like, one moment there was nothing in front of them, and then the next there was a pencil and a pad of paper in front of each of them. Most of them just shook their heads and settled on the fact that they were loosing it, others just added it to the list of weird thing that had happened in the past few days that all have to do with the two newcomers and Mike, err, Magnus.

"And the supermodel one wins," Magnus told them after counting the votes.

"That is actually true," Blaine said smiling.

"You don't have a crush on Harry Styles?!" Kurt rhetorically asked, "Wait, you kissed a supermodel and he didn't fall for you?" Kurt asked sarcastically.

Blaine just smiled, "She seemed pretty into it, but bikini models aren't really my type." Everybody was frozen for a moment before they all busted out laughing.

"Ok, ok, my turn," Kurt said, going in the opposite order than they did for truth or dare, "I had a turtle named Vogue, my favorite ice cream is bubblegum, and I used to try and listen to metal music to fit in," everyone wrote down what they thought and handed the paper to Magnus.

"The consensus is no one likes bubble gum ice cream,"

Kurt just nodded and it was Rachel's turn. After puck finished, Jace sat up to take his turn, "Alright," He said. The whole time others were taking their turns and were focused on something other than the two shadowhunters, they had a text conversation about whether they should be truthful or not, or just be very vague. They weren't supposed to tell mundanes about the shadow world, but there were no rules in place that said warlocks couldn't tell a few friends about themselves, so they technically wouldn't be breaking any rules. After a brief whisper conversation with Magnus, Alec had come to the conclusion that they could include real situations they had been in and just leave the rest up to the groups imagination until Magnus actually told them. So thats what Jace was going to do, "I was once almost killed by a couple of angry wolves, uh, my girlfriend and I broke up for a month because we thought we were siblings, and I'm the worst cook in my family," Jace finished, Alec and even Magnus knew which one was the lie but the others were having a very hard time, the first two couldn't possibly be real, could they? Eventually they all passed their answers to Magnus.

"They don't think the incest part is true," Magnus said.

"I'm not a bad cook!" Jace feigned hurt.

"Your not a good cook," Alec said.

"I'm better than Izzy," Jace defended.

"That's not really an accomplishment," Alec reminded him. Anyone was a better cook than Izzy.

"Wait, you were almost killed my wolves?!" Artie asked.

"Yeah Maia and I have a complicated relationship..." Jace trailed off.

"And how do you end up thinking that your girlfriend is your sister?" Quinn asked.

"Long story, basically the phyco I thought was my father was actually her father," he said, his words turning darker the more he talked about it.

"Ok, my turn," Alec said to get the attention off of Jace, "Uh, I love fictional books, I can shoot an arrow into a target from 150 yards away, and I almost got married," Alec said with a monotone voice. If Jace didn't know him so well he would honestly be stumped. Magnus was also aided by the fact that he kew Alec always read non-fiction.

"Ok results are... its a tie between married and archery," Magnus told them amused. Jace snorted and Alec stifled a laugh, "Actually, you and I are the only ones who got it right," He said to Jace.

"Wow, you chose both the truths," Jace said.

"Wait, you almost got married?!" Quinn, who was still adjusting to Finn and Rachel being engaged, asked.

"Yeah..." Alec said like he really didn't want to talk about it.

"One hell of a wedding!" Jace cackled out.

"Is it even possible to shoot an arrow that far?" Artie asked no one in particular.

"Did you kill anything?" Puck asked.

"You actually had a wedding? What happened?" Rachel asked.

"Uhhh," Alec said, not sure what to say or who to answer.

"Let's not overwhelm him," Magnus said, trying to get his friends to back off a little.

"Can you tell us about the marriage thing?" Tina asked on behalf of everyone.

"It was a stupid mistake that I was pressured into," Alec mumbled, not knowing how to explain the whole Lydia thing.

"You mind?" Jace asked him. Alec nodded for him to go ahead, "So Alec was afraid our parents would make him marry to help with their reputation so he jumped the gun and proposed to this girl, who was a family friend of ours, that he had just met. Alec was freaking out but he was unmoving in the fact that he was going through with the wedding, he's stubborn like that. So one week later the whole family is there along with many business associates dressed in their finest clothes to see this guy," he slapped Alec on the back, "marry a girl he had known for .5 seconds. Right before the... ring part," Jace was fairly sure that what mundanes did, "he," he gestured to Magnus, "busts through the door and stands in the middle of the aisle. Then Alec proceeds to call off the wedding by-"

Alec started talking, trying to cut Jace off, "Ok, thats enough!"

But Jace kept talking so they were both talking at the same time, "Kissing Magnus in front of the whole crowahwd mmhmmamd," The noises coming out of Jace's mouth was the result of Alec clamping his hand over it.

Alec's face was red and he looked embarrassed but everyone else in the room was smiling, even Santana who had a reputation of not having a heart. Magnus' smile was the only one Alec noticed though, it was a fond smile, showering Alec in warm, fuzzy feelings of affection. At least until, "Ahh, Jace! Thats extremely childish!" Alec said as he pulled his hand away, not from disgust, but because he knew from experience that the next step was biting.

Jace just smiled smugly to himself, "Well it worked,"

"Alright, my turn," Magnus said to draw away the impending questions about Alec's wedding, "I was once attacked by a spider money in the rainforests of Peru, I run a nightclub, and for a time I doubled as a pirate,"

Alec looked at him with fascination, he loved hearing stories from Magnus. Whatever culture, language, civilization, or any other piece of history Alec was currently reading about, he loved hearing stories from his boyfriend who had actually been there. He made them seem so much more real, more than just words on a page.

"Ok," Jace said, being the one who counted it this time since it was Magnus' turn, "You were never a pirate,"

"I most defiantly was, my hat was exquisite, though it was lost to the guano," Magnus recounted.

Everyone was staring at him with open mouths except for Alec who just looked bewildered to the fact that Magnus lost a piece of clothing.

"So what was the lie?" Sam asked.

"Well, I don't run a nightclub," Magnus said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Everyone laughed at themselves, of course he didn't run a nightclub, he was still in high school, "I just own it and occasionally throw amazing parties," He said matter of factly.

Now everyone just looked stunned at how little they actually knew about their resident dancing asian. They all took a moment to think about his 'truths'. Getting attacked by a monkey in Peru was plausible nowadays, but highly unlikely. How could a high schooler own a nightclub, well an 18 year old could legally own one, but how did he have the money and time to keep up with it? And speaking of time, when did he have enough of that to take off and become a pirate? And were pirates even a thing anymore?

"Im going to the bathroom," Jace announced to everyone because they totally needed to know that.

"Its down the hall!" Alec yelled to him when Jace started walking in the direction of the master bedroom.

"Im using the good one, I don't like how the soap in the other one smells," He called back.

"Brat," Alec muttered. The New Directions were really intrigued by the two new kids friendship. It seemed like they were extremely close but they got easily annoyed by each other. They were just so comfortable around one another it was hard not to feel like an outsider.

"Who wants a drink?" Magnus asked.

"You got any beer?" Puck asked.

"Beer, wine, vodka, whiskey, scotch, and almost any concoction you can think of," The more Magnus talked the more awed the occupants of the room were. All except Alec.

"No. No alcohol," he said firmly. Magnus gave him a look that one would give a person who just ran over their dog, "Don't try that with me, I got enough of those from Isabelle growing up so I'm immune," He told him. Magnus proceeded to give him an exaggerated exasperated look, "No! Everybody here is underage anyways, its illegal for them to drink, so no," Alec said pointedly marking this as the end of the futile argument.

"Why are you saying like your not underage?" Santana asked, taking the thoughts right out of everyone else heads.

"Because I'm not, but I d not really drink," He said.

"Well, I'm having one," Magnus said to stop any questions about why he was in high school if he was 21 before they started. He stood up and started walking to the kitchen.

Alec stood up, intending to follow him when he took in a sharp intake of breath and put a hand on the couch to steady himself. Magnus stopped walking to the kitchen and turned to look at him. The whole room was dead silent, the question 'Are you ok?' on the tip of everyones tongues. Right before Magnus was about to ask him, Alec breathed in again and released a grunt of pain, instinctively bringing his hand to his parabatai rune, "Jace," He breathed out locking eyes with a concerned Magnus who was walking towards him before turning and sprinting through the doors of the bedroom to the bathroom, Magnus on his heels, leaving the remainder of the room extremely confused.


	17. Chapter 17

Alec found Jace unconscious on the bathroom floor, blood expelling from his head. Not the worst position Alec had ever found him in, but not a very good one either.

"Jace!" Alec yelped, getting down to his knees to look at his head and make sure he was still breathing. Of course, Alec would know if Jace stopped breathing, but there was nothing like actually feeling the pulse of his parabatai. Alec reached for his stele just to find that it was not there in his pocket like it always was. His eyes widened when he remembered how he had quickly changed after Jace had told them that people were there, "Magnus! My stele, its in my pants," He said franticly, pointing to the hamper across the bedroom. Magnus understood and ran to the hamper to dig through the clothes and find Alec's pants from earlier.

By now all of the New Directions were crowded on the outskirts of the living room watching with horror through the large bedroom door as Alec carried Jace out of the bathroom, "Magnus!" He yelled urgently, it sounded more like a plea, "MOVE!" He ordered them, carrying Jace out of the bedroom in the direction of the couch. They parted like the Red Sea, still looking horrified and some of them looking like they were about to be sick.

"What happened?" Puck asked.

"What can we do?" Blaine asked being the calmest of the group.

"Just stay out of my way. Magnus!" Alec called, setting Jace down on the couch, New Directions on either side, staying far enough away for Alec, but still where they could see.

"Got it!" Magnus said, coming out of the bedroom and tossing what looked like a pen to Alec.

"He needs medical attention!" Quinn yelled like they were all idiots.

"No, he's going to be fine, right Alec?" Magnus said, trying to calm everyone.

"Yeah," Alec breathed, having just finished giving Jace a few iratze's.

"Ok, what the hell is going on!" Santana demanded to know.

"Uhh..." Magnus was unsure of how to explain this situation to his mundane friends.

"Magnus," Alec said, barely above a whisper. Magnus slid down onto the floor to kneel next to Alec and put a supportive hand on Alec's back, "It's healed, but he's not waking up," Alec said, his voice a little shaky. Magnus looked at Jace, then to the mundanes, and finally to Alec. Upon looking at the grief stricken face of his boyfriend he seemed to decide, his face turning to one of determination. He turned back to Jace and snapped his fingers, blue wisps washing over his face.

"Take my strength," Alec said to him.

"No, Alexander, it's alright," Magnus assured him.

"Magnus, he's my parabatai and your doing this for me, so use my strength and not your own," Alec told him, his voice sounding very much like a parent scolding a child. Magnus sighed and looked warily at Alec's outstretched hand before grabbing it. Once Alec's mind was set there was nothing you could do to change it, a stubbornness that both of his siblings also shared. Alec didn't know how long it had been before he heard the gasp, he also didn't care.

"Alec?" Jace gasped out, his voice scratchily calling for his parabatai.

"I'm here," Alec said putting his free hand in Jace's.

Suddenly Jace shot up, fully awake and aware, making everyone else in the room jump. Magnus got up and took a step back and Alec migrated to the couch next to Jace. "What happened?" Alec asked.

"I-I don't- I was washing my hands and then..." Jace's face was scrunched up as he tried to recall the last few moments before he was rendered unconscious. His face then went wide with realization, "Some one knocked me out, I think it was a vampire," He said, quite loudly.

"Excuse me, what?" Tina said.

Magnus' eyes went wide, he had momentarily forgotten they were there. And they had all just seen him use magic. Magnus shook his head, he couldn't deal with this right now, one problem at a time!

"Alright, it's time for you all to leave. Out, go on, I'll see you at school. Bye, be safe getting home," He said as he ushered them out of the house, shutting the door behind them. He sighed and closed his eyes as he fell back against the door.

Magnus was not sure how long he had been standing like that, thinking, before he felt the soft touch of calloused hands wrap around his neck, "Thank you," Alec whispered to him. Magnus' eyes opened to see Jace walk into the guest bedroom and shut the door. He then focused on the tired face of his beautiful shadowhunter.

"Anything for you dear," He responded nonchalantly.

"I mean it, I know how much tonight meant to you. I'm sorry that I ruined it," Alec trailed off, removing his hands from Magnus so he could subconsciously hug himself, looking down at his feet.

"You didn't ruin anything, why would you think that?" Magnus asked, confused. Sure, the vampire attack had cut the night short and he would have a lot of explaining to do the next day, but none of that was Alec's fault.

"The vampire attack, your friends seeing things... He's my parabatai and I made you heal him and subsequently out yourself in the process. I just- I'm sorry Magnus, none of this would have happened if we weren't here," Alec bit the inside of his cheek while waiting for a response. It was as if he expected Magnus to throw him out for ruining his evening. Which made no sense at all to Magnus, well, a little if you looked back on who his parents were.

"Alec," Magnus said, a name he only called him when he was being serious, "Who can say for sure why the vampire was here, I am a very powerful warlock, you know. And you didn't make me do anything, he's your parabatai, I understand what that means, so of course I was going to help him. Besides, I would never be able to live with myself, or face Tessa again, if I had let the last of the Herondale's die," He smiled when Alec looked up at him, a halfhearted smiled on his face, "And my night is hardly ruined..." He added, moving closer to Alec with a sly grin on his face. Alec just laughed and kissed him softly before grabbing his arm and leading him to their bedroom.

"I love you," Alec whispered to him when they were settled in bed, both exhausted from the day.

"And I love you," Magnus whispered back, letting sleep overtake him with a smile on his face.


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning Magnus woke up to a girlish yelp. He opened his eyes just to see Jace standing in the doorway to their bedroom covering his eyes and Alec blushing with an annoyed, confused look on his face, "We weren't doing anything!" Alec said exasperatedly.

"Actually we were doing something, sleeping, until you rudely interrupted," Magnus said pointedly, voice groggy from having just woke up.

"Well, excuse me for not expecting you to be sleeping in the nude!" Jace replied, peeking through his fingers at them.

Alec looked at his parabatai as if he had lost his mind, "We're not naked!" He protested.

"Might as well be, I've seen more of him," Jace pointed to Magnus, "than I ever wanted to," He muttered.

"Well, then, maybe you shouldn't bust into our room without knocking, because next time I'll make sure you see much more," Magnus said, annoyed and amused.

Alec half-heartedly hit Magnus on the arm, rolling his eyes as he said, "You, be quiet, and you," He turned to Jace, "Get out!"

Fifteen minutes later, Alec walked out of the bedroom dressed, showered, and ready for the day, to find Jace rolling on the floor laughing his ass off. Alec cleared his throat making Jace jump up, "Alec, hey, you have to see this!"

"What?" he sighed, knowing that even if he said he wasn't interested, Jace would just show him anyways. He held up his phone and Alec watched as it started to play a video.

The camera was shaky and you could hear giggle from behind it.

"Ahhh, Izzy, demon!" Max yelled, running into the kitchen with a seraph blade.

"What! Where?" She yelped, knocking the pan off the stove.

Max yelled and charged forward and started violently attacking the pile of... whatever that was, "Die, demon scum! Eck, this is the worst smelling demon I've ever killed. Why won't you die!" Max was now on the floor, having knocked over the... black substance, and was stabbing it relentlessly.

Izzy was standing off to the side with a shocked look on her face, that quickly turned to an unimpressed one, "MAX! THOSE WERE PANCAKES! CONGRATULATIONS, YOU KILLED BREAKFAST!," She yelled, waving her arms around, "HAVE FUN CLEANING THIS UP!" She stormed out of the room.

The giggles then turned to outright laughter and Max said, "Did you get it?"

"Yep!" Clary responded.

"In my defense, breakfast was already dead," Max said and then the video cut to black.

"Wha-what did I just watch?" Alec asked, confused and amused.

"Izzy tried to cook," Jace said, that was an explanation for almost any situation someone would witness, and no one ever asked any questions about it because with Izzy in the kitchen, anything could happen.

Alec took in a breath like he was about to speak, but then decided against it and walked towards the kitchen, "Want coffee?" He asked Jace.

"Nah, I'm good," He said, still afraid of the black liquid after what it did to his sister.

Alec nodded, made two cups of coffee, and walked back into the master bedroom, telling Jace that they would leave in twenty minutes.

Forty-five minutes later, the three stepped through a portal into an empty bathroom. Magnus and Alec stepped through effortlessly but Jace fell flat on the floor, "Karma," Magnus said, stepping over him. Alec laughed, following Magnus out of the bathroom.

"Trader!" Jace yelled at him before the door closed.

"He's quite theatrical," Magnus stated to him.

"Yeah, I know. Everyone in my life is," Alec replied, giving Magnus a look. Magnus gasped in mock offense before Alec rolled his eyes and they both started laughing.

"So, what are you going to tell them?" Alec asked after a moment of comfortable silence. They were now walking down the hallway where the glee room was located and he thought it best to know what they were going to say when they got in there.

Magnus sighed, all humor long gone, "Honestly, I don't know. These people are my friends, they know what its like to be outcasts and called freaks, but they don't know how much of a freak I am. I don't know if they would accept me, I don't want to lie to them, but I also don't want to loose them," He looked down. They had stopped off to the side of the hallway once the conversation got a little heavier.

Alec grabbed his face and lifted his chin up so they were eye to eye, "You are not a freak, and if they don't accept you for the amazing person that I know you are, they they don't deserve to have you in their lives anyway,"

Magnus just smiled solemnly at him while nodding, "It was nice having a few friends who didn't know who I was, who didn't already have a preconceived notion of my person. They never really expected anything from me, or needed me to do things for them," At this Alec looked away guiltily, he knew they had gone to Magnus a lot for help and favors. He also knew the only reason he did them, free of charge, no less, was for Alec. In hopes that one day they would be where they are now, happy and in love. Still, he did not forget everything he owes Magnus, how much the warlock has done for him.

"Sorry for that," Alec softly said, looking up at Magnus with an apologetic look.

"I didn't mind, really. I love you and I would do anything if it meant seeing you happy. It was just nice being... normal for a little while," Magnus sighed out.

"Why would you want to be normal when your fabulous," Alec said, quoting something Magnus had said to him early on in their relationship. Magnus looked at him like he just struck gold, or in this case, silver, "Please never tell anyone I just said that,"

"No promises sweet cheeks," Magnus said wickedly, Alec flinching at the stupid nickname, "Lets do this," Magnus said, taking a deep breath and walking into the room.

The room was filled to the brim with gossip, every one of the New Directions were there and they all had theories about what had happened the night before. So, of course, when Alec and Magnus walked in, all conversation stopped and all eyes were immediately fixated on them.

"Hey," Magnus said hesitantly. Immediately, everyone in the room was in front of them, each asking a million different questions.

"Everybody shut up and sit down!" Surprisingly, it was Alec who made this demand, making everyone stop talking just from pure shock that the boy could speak louder than a whisper. Magnus was even shocked, so much so that he sat down too, "Mags," Alec whisper shouted at him.

"Oh, yes, right," He said, standing up in front of his 'peers', "I know you all must have many questions, starting with what occurred last night," Magnus said to them.

"Damn straight, what the hell did you do to Jace?"

"Yeah and why did he say 'it was a vampire'?"

"Oh, and the fact that blue stuff came out of your hands?"

"Alright, calm down and let him speak will you?" Alec said again from his rightful place behind his boyfriend.

Everyone was once again quiet, "Alright, I don't know quite where to start, so I guess I will lead with the events that brought me here..." Magnus said, and he did. He told them a little about his adventures in Peru, his friends Ragnor and Caterina, Ragnor's death, a little about the first and second war. He told them the basics about warlocks, vampires, werewolves, seelies, and shadowhunters, about him having been around for a few millennia, which was a strait up lie, but they didn't know that, and about him being able to do magic.

"Wait, so you expect us to believe that there are werewolves, vampires, fairies, and wizards-"

"Warlocks," Magnus and Alec mindlessly corrected.

Everyone in the room looked about ready to call the nut house and book them a room, "Right," Quinn said sarcastically.

"And that your some sort of magical man, and you are an angel warrior?" Santana asked, pointing fist to Magnus then to Alec.

"Mags," Alec said to him pointedly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Magnus nodded at him and waved his hand. All of a sudden the lights went out and came back on dimmer, illuminating the newly refurnished room. The seats that were usually regular student desk chairs were now designer arm chairs, there was a beautiful rug adorning the floor, and there was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There were a few screams, some surprised noises, and many shocked faces. Alec just sighed, "Really?" He asked the warlock, recognizing the some of the decor from their loft in Brooklyn. Magnus just smiled innocently at him and shrugged.

"Wha- wha-" Was a pretty good representation of the noises coming out of most peoples mouthes.

"Can you get me in touch with someone who can get me a unicorn?" Brittany asked, being the only person not completely shocked.

"So, this is real, your really..." Quinn sputtered.

"Yes, I am," Magnus said, changing the room back, save the rug.

"Wait, so, explain it again?" Rachel asked, taking out a notebook to jot down everything he said. Magnus sighed and repeated his explanation about the shadow world, in vague detail of course.

"None of you can tell anyone, I technically shouldn't even be here right now witnessing this," Alec sighed, just under a year ago he would have went straight to the Head of the Institute with the news a warlock was telling mundanes, but now he was the Head of the Institute and he didn't agree much with the Clave's rules anymore, "So if I get wind of someone telling mundanes, well, other mundanes, I will come back here and it won't be pretty,"

Magnus wanted to tell his friends that Alec's bark was bigger than his bite, but he just looked so damn sexy when he got all leader-ish that he couldn't take his eyes off of him. Magnus was very aware of Alec's status as Head of the New York Institute, with the downworlder meetings and all, just as Alec was aware of his position as the High Warlock of Brooklyn, due to the amount of times they got woken up in the middle of the night because Magnus had a needy client who 'couldn't wait'. Since they both had high demanding jobs, they understood when one of them had a late night or missed a dinner. They both got the burden of power and it was nice to be able to come home and enjoy each others presence, not as a Clave official and a respected warlock, but as two people completely in love with one another. Though, they each had to admit that they loved to see the other at work. Alec always found it endearing and somewhat hot when Magnus would yell at a client or talk about something that he knows everything about. That, and when he did magic Alec would secretly stalk behind the bedroom door to watch him, but could anyone blame him? Magnus looked positively sinful with the wisps of blue coming out of his hands. Magnus was not immune to these little fantasies either, he could admit that he loved watching Alec giving orders and yelling left and right at stupid nephilim. Not to mention when Alec got passionate about something, his face would be determined, sometimes it would even turn red from adrenaline, his voice would get a little louder than it usually was, and the vein in his neck would stand out immensely, giving Magnus the urge to just-

Ok, he was really getting off track here. Point was... Magnus couldn't even remember what the point was. What was he just talking about?

"No, but Magnus does," Alec said.

"What do I do, dear?" Magnus asked, worming his way back into the conversation.

"Apparently, you sparkle like a Twilight vampire," Jace said from the doorway. Magnus made his best offended face, putting a hand on his chest, "Yeah, yeah, whatever," Jace said dismissively, "Alec," He said, nodding to the door. Alec walked out and started talking quietly outside the classroom.

"Ah, Mike, just the guy I wanted to see," Mr. Schue said from behind Magnus' current position facing the door.

Magnus mentally cursed, spinning around and plastering an award winning smile on his face, "Yes Mr. Schue?"

"Where were you yesterday?" He asked, crossing his arms, "I waited for you after school, but you never showed up,"

Magnus went wide eyed, he completely forgot, "Yes, well, uh, I-"

"He wasn't feeling well Mr. Schue," Finn said, covering for him.

"Yeah, so Alec took him home," Tina supplied.

"Mmhmm," Will said, not beliving the obvious lie.

"I-"

But Magnus didnt get to finish making up another lie because at that moment Alec came flying into the room. Literaly flying, that is until he crashed into the chairs, followed by Jace who fell through the piano. 

"Alexander!" Magnus said, rushing forward.

"Uhhghh, I'm fine too thanks," Jace said from on- well- in the piano.

"Magnus, wards! Vamp's here," Alec said, getting up. He didnt want to seem demanding, but Magnus had to get the wards up as quickly as possible so that the vampire didn't escape. Magnus, after months of living with Alec, understood what he ment, and immedietly closed his eyes and let the magic flow from both of his now outstreched hands. Usually, he had to set up the wards before he could raise them, but he had already done that with the school, as well as all of his houses and apartments, for procautionary mesures. So, after a moment, he raised his arms up, leaving a trail of blue mist in the air.

"No one gets in or out unless I say so," Magnus said in his 'High warlock' voice.

"Wha- wha-" Mr. Schue was standing in the middle of the room with his mouth hanging slightly ajar.

"I'll fill him in," Blaine volenteered, escorting the shell shocked teacher to the corner to explain.

Alec groaned as he limped over to Jace, already drawing an iratze, "Did you see his face?" Alec asked, knowing Jace had a few moments when Alec was being hurled across the room to memorize their asailent.

"Better," He replied, holding out a few strands of hair. Alec smirked and shook his head, an expression, Magnus noticed, that he only made around his parabatai. Alec cast a quick glance at Magnus before grabbing Jaces hands in his own, a freshly activated tracking rune on the blonde's arm. Magnus had seen them, and other sets of parabatai, do this before and he had always marveled at how intimate it all was. It had always seemed cruel to him, being that close with someone, sharing a part of your soul, all of the darkest parts of yourself, loving someone that much, yet not being alowed to be in love with them. 

"Got him," Jace said, breaking his eyes away from the taller boy, pulling out his seraph blade, and turning to the doorway. Magnus would scold himself later on not having noticed the shadow lurking at the entrance to the room, probably due to his little mental trip back to the 1880's to remeber a boy so similar, and yet so different, from the one that stood in front of him. But, for now, he had bigger problems to deal with, the first being to comprehend what he was seeing.

Every mundane jaw in the room dropped, for in the doorway, in all his vampire glory, stood, "Brad?!"


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm really sorry that it's taken me so long. I have had a crazy few months, a lot of family stuff, school stuff, and medical stuff. But I finally have my laptop and am in a space conducive to writing, and I can keep going, cause like I said before, I WILL NOT abandon this story. I want to apologize especially to those of you who have been here since the first few chapters and posted reviews as we were going, thank you for the support and I hope you will continue to read and enjoy. Thank you to those of you who reviewed telling me to update, sorry it took so long and I hope it was worth the wait!

"Brad?!" Was echoed throughout the room, the people whose mouth had not yet resembled a fish certainly did at that moment.

'Brad' just chuckled darkly, walking into the room. Jace just stood with his seraph blade raised, ready to strike if he made a move.

Magnus was the most shocked out of everyone. How could there have been a vampire that close to him and him not notice? For such a big revelation, he was eerily calm, "How did I not know about this?" He said out loud.

"Unlike those you call your children, I know how to cover my tracks," He said, deliberately picking out those words.

Magnus' face suddenly went wan with horror and realization, "No, she didn't," Magnus breathed. Alec was looking at him with concern while everyone else was confused.

"Of course she did, did you really think that she would just let it go? You locked her up!" He yelled.

"Magnus? What's he talking about?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, mind filling us in?" Jace asked from his position still in front of Alec and Magnus, holding his seraph blade towards 'Brad'.

Magnus sighed, "Camille tends to hold a grudge,"

Alec visibly recoiled, "Th-the vampire? She knew about this place?" he asked, sounding a little hurt.

"Alec, I told nobody of this place, not even my dearest Catarina," Magnus said exasperatedly and Alec straightened up a little.

Brad snorted, "Still horribly naive I see,"

"What is that supposed to mean? You don't even know me," Magnus said, calm, cool, and collected.

"Don't I? Just because you don't remember my face doesn't mean we could ever forget yours. You let us die," He spat.

Magnus straightened up, making Alec a bit concerned, "You're one of De Quincey's," It was not a question. Magnus let out a dry laugh, "You murdered innocent people, drained them for entertainment. I didn't let them die, I didn't have a say, the shadowhunters did what shadowhunters do. You broke the accords,"

"De Quincy broke the accords! Honestly, I heard so much about the great Magnus Bane and how he helped those in need! Did you ever think for a second that just because he was a monster that didn't mean we all were? He sired us, but that didn't mean we asked for it, this life! I was a tailor, I was married, I had a kid! I didn't ask for my life to be ripped away!" Brad yelled.

"And yet you stayed as part of the clan, you took part in the torturing, murdering, and turning of countless other innocent people," Magnus' voice was passionate.

"I didn't know what to do! He starved us so that we would obey him, that was the only food source there was. What were we going to do? Runaway? Mortmain would have had our heads! There wasn't a way out! Most of us were just hoping that someone would save us, and then you came along and we thought that just maybe you would see what was really happening and help us, but I guess you were too blinded by that blonde bitch to care!" He lunged at Magnus, who was standing there like stone.

Alec and Jace sprung into action, putting into place the plan that they had come up with years ago for moments like this. Alec put an arrow through Brad's shoulder and another one into his knee while Jace restrained him from behind.

"Everyone alright?" Jace asked, holding the now incapacitated vampire.

The whole room nodded with wide eyes, completely shell-shocked. Alec came up behind Magnus, putting a hand on his back, "Magnus, you ok?" Magnus nodded with a small, forced smile.

Alec wanted to question him further because it was an obvious lie, but he decided that now might not be the best time, nor place, to talk about something that made him vulnerable.

"How did we miss the piano player being a vampire?" Kurt asked, a glazed look still in his eye. There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room.

"Don't be so discouraged, I'm 400 years old and even I did not see that coming," Magnus comforted.

"How old?!" Mr. Schue, whom everyone seemed to have forgotten was there, squeaked. It sounded as though he wanted to yell, but couldn't find his voice.

"Alec, we should really get him to the Institute," Jace pleaded as Brad started to stir.

"Yeah, right. Uh, Mags do you wanna...?" Alec sighed, he really didn't want to have to always ask the warlock for help, "What do you want to do?" He wasn't sure exactly what specific situation he was asking about, Alec just wanted to find out what Magnus needed and give it to him.

"I want to get Brad locked up in the institute. Then, possibly, a nice bath and a bottle of wine from my special collection," Magnus answered, looking like he was being held together by duct tape. He looked at Alec, then over at Jace struggling to find a comfortable position to hold the dead weight in his arms, and made a portal to the institute, "You two go along, I'm going to clean up here then go back to my place. I'll see you both tomorrow," at this Alec lost his smile, he thought Magnus had wanted him to stay with him, "unless, of course, you would care to join me?" He finished, looking up at Alec through his lashes, the way he did when he wanted Alec to say yes to something.

"I'll see you in an hour," Alec said, pecking Magnus' forehead before disappearing through the portal with his parabatai and the vampire piano teacher.

"Ok, what the hell just happened?" Mercedes asked.

'Here we go,' Magnus' thought, eyes still closed from when Alec kissed him, trying to gather the strength to be hammered with questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright guys there's the next chapter, I know it took a while and I just want to say thank you again for waiting and I hope this lives up to your expectations. Please review and tell me what I can do better.
> 
> P.S. (Check back later because I might post again before I go to bed)


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two In one night to make up for none in 6 months. Fair? Probably not but it was the best I could do! There isn't a lot of touchy-feely in this chapter but I promise that there will be in one of the next ones!
> 
> *The A/N at the end talks about the future of this story so please read it.*

"Brad was a vampire?"

"How did the blonde one and the black haired one take that thing down alone?"

"Why did it want to kill you"

"Are there more of those things?!"

"You're how old?"

Magnus sighed, this was his life. Why he thought it'd be a good idea to immerse himself in teenagers. Thank god he didn't have children.

"Ok, in order: Yes; They have special angel powers; Reasons; Probably not; And around 415, but I don't look it. Now, this is an event I would very much like to forget, so this one time only- ask me anything," Magnus would probably come to regret that, but he was just so beyond caring at that moment.

The whole room was stunned, nobody speaking until Brittany blurted out, "Can you still get me that unicorn?"

The room then sprung into a chorus of questions about him and the downworld despite the rundown he had given them earlier.

"No Puck, I have not considered using my magic to 'poof' ATMs into my home, I make plenty of money fulfilling people's dreams."

"So do turduckens really exist?" Sam asked.

Magnus tilted his head, "It's not an animal, it's a food dish,"

"For 400 you look very youthful and I would just like to know what facial cream you're using?" Rachel asked next.

Magnus sighed, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

"So, to conclude, the powerful downworlder was the High Warlock of Brooklyn, who doubles as a high school student, but the threat was the school piano teacher who was a vampire that had a grudge against the Warlock?" Madam Dearborn, the head of the Lima Institute, asked.

"Yes ma'am," Jace said.

She sighed, rubbing her forehead, "I need a drink," She said under her breath, "You both are dismissed, please don't 'help' anymore while your here," She then turned and walked back to her office, presumably to get a drink.

"So, what do you want to do tonight? We could spar, check out some local bars, or some local clubs-" Jace started at ask Alec.

"Uh, actually I have plans," Alec said bluntly, as per usual.

"Oh, right. Well, I'm going to go hit up some clubs, you go bed your man," Jace, being the smart, living person that he was, ran as soon as that sentence left his mouth. Had it not been for the portal that appeared to take Alec to Magnus', Alec would have chased after him.

* * *

Alec didn't say anything when he stepped through the portal and found Magnus sitting on the couch, drink in hand. He just walked over to his boyfriend, stood behind the couch where he was sitting, and started to rub his shoulders.

"Mmmm," Magnus hummed, closing his eyes and putting his head back, opening them again to look up at Alec. Alec subconsciously smiled because Magnus' eyes were bright gold and slitted and beautiful.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Alec asked tentatively.

Magnus closed his eyes and sat up, patting the seat next to him, "De Quincy was a tyrannical vampire, a monster. He would host parties for downworlders, with innocent mundanes, children, as the entertainment... and the refreshments. Camille, of course, was always invited and I, being the loyal lapdog that I was, accompanied her. I could barely make it through the night without being sick when we did go, the spectacle was ghastly horrific. De Quincy must have turned hundreds, thousands, even, though I doubt many of them are still around today. One night, towards the rocky end of Camille's hold on me, the Shadowhunters of London brought holy fire down on them. Every last one was either killed or captured eventually. And I-" He choked on a sob, "I did nothing to help them. I just- I mean I just assumed that they were all like De Quincy. I wanted them to be because that was easier than trying to save them. They were just scared children and I- I could have helped them, but I was too wrapped up in my own drama to notice that they were just as terrified of him as his victims. They were his victims." Magnus closed his eyes and leaned his head on Alec's welcoming shoulder trying to pull himself together.

Alec just allowed him to sit there, holding him, listening to him. That was all he could do because Magnus did screw up and Alec could not tell him otherwise. Even if he did say that there was nothing Magnus could've done, the older man would have found some other way to blame himself. This was something Alec had learned from experience.

After some time, Magnus took a deep breath and lifted his head to look Alec in his eyes, "Thank you," He whispered.

Alec just nodded in understanding before smiling and asking, "Are you hungry?"

"Starving," Magnus replied. They decided to order Italian from Italy and watch TV.

* * *

"You got to pick last time!" Alec exclaimed, walking towards the couch in front of the TV from the kitchen, food in hand.

"But this is the season finale!" Magnus whined, noodles coming out of his mouth.

"We're watching Blue Bloods," Alec said in an unmoving voice. Magnus rolled his eyes and flicked on the show, knowing that he wouldn't win. Ever since he had introduced his beloved Nephilim to Netflix, Alec had been obsessed with the crime drama. Magnus supposed that it reminded him of his own life. Living in New York City, enforcing the law, dealing with family drama, not to mention the fact that Jamie was totally in love with his partner. Forbidden love always drew people into things. No wonder Shakespeare was so popular.

* * *

It was 3:27 AM when Alec rolled over to find the other side of the bed cold and empty, "Magnus?" He called groggily, stretching and getting out of bed. He went to where he could say almost certainly his boyfriend would be: his study. And sure enough, there he was mixing something in a pot and muttering to himself. "Magnus?" Alec said cautiously as not to startle the person handling potentially dangerous substances.

"Alec! Oh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" He replied, giving him a peck.

"It's fine," Alec said dismissively, "What're you making?"

Magnus looked down, almost as if he was ashamed, "A memory alteration concoction," He said quietly.

"A wha-" Alec started but then it dawned on him, Magnus had been fidgety ever since his friends had found out about- well everything. Alec had assumed that it was because of what Brad had said, but now he realized that his strange behavior could be attributed to the enlightenment of his high school friends. "Are you going to…" He trailed off, hoping Magnus would finish his thought.

"Not exactly," Magnus sighed, putting the spoon down and rubbing his forehead, "What I'm making alters... perception. They would still know and remember everything that happened, everything that I said, but they wouldn't be able to focus too much on it without everything going fuzzy. It allows people to just accept the shadow world without making such a fuss- prevents those pesky questions. I mean, wouldn't you have loved to have this when you first met Clary?" He joked rhetorically.

Alec was not amused. "Magnus, I know you. So I am not going to try and talk you out of this, I am just going to tell you to think hard about this. This is not a decision you should be making at 3 am. Just come back to bed and we'll go to school tomorrow and if you still think this is the right thing to do- I'll support you."

Magnus looked very tired and quite stressed out, "Alright," he said as he allowed Alec to wrap his arms around him and lead him back to their bedroom.

* * *

The next day Magnus woke up to coffee and pancakes with a side of eggs. After breakfast, Alec and he walked to school, because it was a beautiful day, at 6:30 and got there at 7, meeting up with Jace outside the school.

"So, what're we going to do about the mundanes?" He questioned.

Alec sighed and looked warily at the warlock, "Magnus wants to drug them."

"I do not! I simply want to make the accepting process easier," he huffed.

"Sounds good," Jace said.

Alec rolled his eyes, "Whatever, let's just deal with today and if you still want to use that," he pointed to where he knew Magnus had the potion, "by afternoon choir practice, fine."

"Alright, let's do this," Magnus agreed, taking Alec's hand and walking into what he knew was going to be a hell of a long school day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, that's all for today folks. I promise to update again before the end of April, most likely in two weeks just because this week is testing week and I won't have time. I'm thinking about 5-10 more chapters of the main story and then a bunch of one-shots set at future dates if you guys want that. The one-shots would just be different life events: when they get Max, when they get married, when they get Rafe, when Finn dies, when Rachel gets on Broadway, when Kurt and Blaine and Santana and Brittany get married, when they all visit Pandemonium for the first time, when they go to New York and see Magnus' place, or just Alec visiting Magnus at school when he goes. Stuff like that, but only if you tell me you want it. Anyways, that won't be until I finish the main story which I will hopefully do in the next couple months. Thank you again for being so patient- I've needed the time, but now I'm back! Please Review and tell me if I still got it or I've lost my mojo. See you soon!


End file.
